By Christine Fabro
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Monday, June 5, raised the status of Mayon Volcano to Alert Level 2 due to its “increasing unrest”.
“DOST-PHIVOLCS is raising the Alert Level of Mayon Volcano from Alert Level 1 (abnormal) to Alert Level 2 (increasing unrest),” it said in an advisory issued Monday at 10:00 a.m.
“This means that there is current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to phreatic eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruption,” Phivolcs added.
This after the Phivolcs observed an increase in rockfall from the volcano’s summit lava dome since the last week of April, indicating aseismic growth.
Rockfall increased in frequency from an average of five events per day to 49 events per day from June 4 at 5:00 a.m. to June 5 at 5:00 a.m.
“A total of 318 rockfall events have been recorded by the Mayon Volcano Network since 01 April 2023 while 26 volcanic earthquakes have been recorded for the same period,” the advisory read.
Phivolcs advised the public to resist from entering the six kilometer-radius permanent danger zone to minimize risks from sudden explosions, rockfall, and landslides.
It also reminded civil aviation authorities to advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ash from any sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft. -ag