Mayon spews 100-meter-high lava fountain

By Ernie Delgado

LEGAZPI CITY --- Lava welled up from the Philippines’ most active volcano, reaching heights of up to 100 meters early this morning in a spectacular yet increasingly dangerous eruption.

The sporadic lava fountaining episode was observed on Mayon Volcano at 1:39 a.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 13), according to the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs).

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) shared video footage of the weak eruption on social media.

“The event lasted approximately 35 seconds and was recorded by monitoring cameras at the Mayon Volcano Observatory and the Mayon Resthouse Station,” the NDRRMC said.

In an interview on Monday, Paul Karson Alanis, the supervising science research specialist at the Mayon Volcano Observatory, told the Philippine Information Agency that lava flows have advanced within 200 meters from the crater of Mayon Volcano, which is 2,462 meters tall.

Alanis said that a volcanic tremor recorded early Monday could indicate a potential magmatic eruption, or the rise of liquid or semi-molten rock toward the surface, as explained by the United States Geological Survey.

Despite the increasing activity at Mayon, Alanis said that the current situation does not warrant raising the alert level to 4, which would expand the danger zone around the volcano.

An Alert Level 4 designation would require the evacuation of residents within a 7- to 8-kilometer radius of Mayon Volcano.

Alanis said that Alert Level 3 remains in effect, indicating an increased likelihood of an explosive eruption occurring within days or weeks.

“Let us not become complacent, even though what we’re observing from Mayon right now includes only rockfalls within the permanent danger zone, and the lava flow is limited to one or two kilometers,” he said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.

Alanis added that Phivolcs does not rule out the possibility of an explosive eruption of the volcano. (PIA Bicol)

Lava fountain spouts from Mayon Volcano on early Tuesday morning. (Screen grab from DOST-PHIVOLCS video)