Philippines braces for emergency as volcano shows alarming activity
LEGAZPI, The Philippines — A volcano that’s been erupting for almost two weeks in the Philippines still appears to be swelling with magma under the surface, scientists said on Thursday.
More than 74,000 people are staying in dozens of emergency shelters as Mount Mayon continues to belch lava, ash and superheated gas and rocks. Officials are worried the eruption may last months, affecting the education, health and livelihoods of people in its shadow.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said tremors, pyroclastic flows and emissions of sulfur dioxide were detected on Wednesday and early Thursday.
Novelyn Alimania, 52, from Salugan village in Camalig town near the volcano, and her family are among those who fled their homes and now staying in a grade school in Baligang village along with more than 1,000 other villagthe ers. “It’s difficult to live here in the classrooms with many other families but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s dangerous to stay in our village,” she said.
“We can’t use the school toilets because most of the toilets are out of order. We can’t cook because there is not enough space yet to cook food,” Alimania said. She said husbands usually go back to the village at night to man the house and come back to the evacuation centers with cooked food in the morning.
Village leader Nonito Nebres said he is trying to set up a public kitchen and toilets in the center. “We’re working on that,” he said, adding that he is also awaiting help from the government like rice ration, canned foods, mats and blankets.
But still many villagers, mostly males, refuse to leave their homes to protect their farms and livestock.
Lava erupting up to 500 meters high was spilling down the slope, with one lava flow extending 3 kilometers from the crater. Ash plumes still rising up to 5 km have spread ash onto farms and towns nearby, darkening the skies and forcing villagers to wear masks.
The institute said GPS and other measurements indicated a sustained swelling or inflation of the mountain surface, which was consistent with magma rising and creating pressure.
The alert level for Mayon remains four on a scale of five, indicating a violent eruption may be imminent.
There have been no reports of injuries, but law enforcers have struggled to keep villagers and tourists from sneaking into the danger zone, which extends 8 km from the crater.
Although Mayon, in northeastern Albay province, has erupted about 50 times in the last 500 years, it has remained popular among climbers and tourists.
In 2013, an ash eruption killed five climbers who had ventured near the summit despite warnings.
The Philippines has about 22 active volcanoes. The explosion of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds.
It’s difficult to live here in the classrooms with many other families, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” Novelyn Alimania, resident of Salugan, a village near the volcano