LEGAZPI CITY (PIA) - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology ( Phivolcs) raised Friday (October 7) the status of Mayon Volcano to Alert Level 2.
Phivolcs said that under Alert Level 2, the volcano was undergoing an increasing unrest.
"This means that there is current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to possible phreatic eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruption," the state volcanologist said.
A Mayon Volcano bulletin issued by Phivolcs at 3 p.m. that Friday indicated that the state volcanologist has observed a continued aseismic growth of the volcano's lava dome at its crater and a slight inflation of its summit.
close up photo of Mayon volcano's crater taken October 7, 2022. ( Photo courtesy of Mr. Roderick Mendoza)
The lava dome near the crater of Mayon has increased in volume to about 48, 000 cubic meters since August 20, 2022.
Ocular inspection of Phivolcs in the summit of the volcano during an aerial survey on Friday morning likewise confirmed the presence of freshly extruded lava at the base of the summit dome.
On Monday, October 3, 2022, a thin remobilized light-colored ash was observed by the public cascaded downslope, likely derived from lava fragmentation during the extrusion process, on the floor of the Miisi Gully since October 2.
Phivolcs is urging the public to be vigilant and desist from entering the 6-kilometer radius of permanent dange zone to steer clear of possible sudden explosions, rockfall and lansdlides.
Phivolcs also strongly advises the public to cover their nose and mouth with damp, clean cloth or dusk mask in case of ash fall events that may affect the communities downwind of Mayon’s crater.
Likewise, Philvocs asked the 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 aircrafts.
Mayon's alert status was raised by Phivolcs from zero to 1 on August 21, 2022 after monitored parameters were generally unremarkable.
Sulfur dioxide emission at the summit of the volcano has reached to 391 tons per day on October 1, 2022. Other parameters are also being monitored such as short term ground deformation that yielded short term deflation on the eastern to southeastern portion of the volcano. (PIA5)
