[Rockhounds] Thousands evacuated in Philippines as Mount Mayon volcano spews lava and sulfuric gas

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The Philippines’ most active volcano
<http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/25/world/volcanoes-fast-facts/index.html> began
spewing lava and sulfuric gas Sunday, prompting the evacuation of nearly
13,000 residents in the southeast of the country’s main island, authorities
said.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recommended
everyone within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius or “danger zone” of the
Mount Mayon volcano be evacuated due to the danger of rockfalls, landslides
and ballistic fragments.

Since the alert level on the volcano was raised to 3 out of a possible 5 on
Thursday, 88% of residents living in the danger zone have been evacuated
and efforts to relocate the rest are ongoing, the Philippine Provincial
Information Office said.

Situated on Luzon island about 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of
Manila, Mayon is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

Images showed families in Albay province carrying children and their
belongings, boarding trucks and military vehicles and taking shelter at
evacuation centers in local schools.

Phivolcs warned that a “hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even
days” after detecting a “relatively high level of unrest” at the volcano.

Within the past 24 hours, the Mayon Volcano Network recorded 21 weak
volcanic earthquakes, and 260 rockfalls, as well as lava flow activity from
the crater, according to Phivolcs.

The agency also detected three pyroclastic density currents – hot,
fast-moving flows of ash, hot gases and debris that rush down volcanic
slopes – and warned of possible ashfall on the south side of the volcano.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/asia/philippines-mayon-volcano-eruption-evacuations-intl-hnk/index.html