Mayon remains quiet, exhibits 6 volcanic quakes

By Cet Dematera

LEGAZPI City --- Mt. Mayon remains silent for more than a month now since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) placed the area near it under Alert Level 1 status. Phivolcs, however, recorded 6 volcanic tremors, the latest of which happened last week.

According to the institution which is dedicated to provide information on the activities of volcanoes and earthquakes, Mt. Mayon’s sulphur dioxide emissions were below the baseline volume of 500 tons a day. It also said that its monitoring instruments installed at the Lignon Hill Observatory did not detect any increasing activity in

Monitoring instruments of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) at the Lignon Hill Observatory also did not detect any increasing activity in Mayon’s other abnormal parameters. Only six volcanic quakes were detected on Mayon for over a month now, or from August 21 until yesterday, Phivolcs records showed.

Its SO2 emissions merely ranged between 150- to 350 tons a day, while its plumes rose to only up to 300 meters in the over month-long monitoring period.

The faint crater glow could only be observed through a telescope, and not yet visible to the naked eye, Phivolcs said.

But Phivolcs Lignon Hill Observatory resident volcanologist Paul Alanis said that despite the remaining low seismic activity and SO2 emissions for more than a month now, alert level 1 would remain hoisted over Mayon due to the presence of the summit dome and its inflated edifice or ground.

“Although we do not see yet significant progress in the existing summit dome at the crater of Mayon, we will maintain its alert level 1 because its ground is also inflated,” Alanis said.

Alanis said that the raising of Mayon’s status to abnormal is a precautionary step should the volcano’s condition turn worse anytime.

Phivolcs alert status was elevated to one on August 21 after the dome at Mayon’s summit crater was observed to be gradually extruded to the surface.

“Daily visual and camera monitoring of the summit crater revealed that the remnant lava dome emplaced towards the end of the 2018 eruption has undergone a change in morphology and slight extrusion by approximately 40,000 cubic meters between June 6 and August 20, 2022,” Phivolcs observed in its August 21 advisory that served as the basis in raising Mayon’s status to abnormal.

Mayon carries historical records of suddenly erupting without prior signs of abnormality.