MAYON VOLCANO | Phivolcs raises Alert Level to “3”

January 14, 2018 - 8:53 PM
5528
Phivolcs_Mayon_handout
Enhanced detail from visual observation posted by Phivolcs Sunday, January 14, 2018.

(UPDATE2 – 9:20 a.m. Monday, January 15, 2018) The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) at 8 p.m. Sunday raised the Alert Level for Mayon Volcano to “3”.

Alert Level 3 is described as denoting “increased tendency toward eruption”.

The volcano, located in Albay Province, has been consistently “relatively high unrest and magma at the crater. A hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days,” Phivolcs said in its bulletin.

Mayon_Volcano_pyroclastic_flow_Phivolcs
Mayon Volcano Pyroclastic Flow observed Monday January 15, 2018 at 09:41 PH Standard Time. Viewed from Mayon Volcano Observatory at Lignon Hill.
Mayon_Volcano_PhivolcsAlertLevel3
Detail from PHIVOLCS bulletin declaring Alert Level 3 at Mayon Volcano.

Phivolcs recommends that the 6-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) and a 7-km Extended Danger Zone be enforced due to the danger of rockfalls, landslides and other sudden explosion or dome collapse that may generate hazardous volcanic flows, lahars as well as “sediment-laden streamflows along channels draining the edifice.”

Mayon_Volcano_Craterglow_PhivolcsAlertLevel3
Phivolcs photograph of crater glow on Mayon Volcano.
Mayon_Volcano_Craterglow_Twitter_bangtanpower1_PhivolcsAlertLevel3
Image posted on Twitter by @batangpower1

Civil aviation authorities are to advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit, as ash from sudden eruption can be dangerous to aircraft.

Based on seasonal wind pattern, PHIVOLCS indicated that ashfall may occur down the southwest flank of the volcano.