Lava continues to pour from Mayon volcano

30 July 2006

Manila: More lava continued to pour out of Mayon volcano yesterday, igniting forest fires down its slopes and showering nearby towns with light ash, volcano scientists said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned yesterday that the restive volcano's major eruption may occur "within days."

It said lava gushing out of its crater has spread 5.4 km near the Bonga Gully and has touched off forest fires, adding that smaller flows and incandescent blocks of lava were observed entering adjacent gullies towards the directions of the gullies of Miisi, Mabinit, Bonga, Matanag and Buyoan.

Lava elevation reached 320 metres, according to the institute. It also recorded at least 394 tremors and four low-frequency volcanic quakes in the last 24 hours. Sulfur dioxide emission was at about 6,089 tons per day.

The institute is banning people from entering a six-km danger zone. The Provincial Disaster Coordination Council and volcano institute have set up a communications relay that will serve as an early warning system once Mount Mayon erupts.

The system will link disaster offices with municipalities and city disaster councils, allowing local officials to launch an evacuation of residents in threatened villages once the danger becomes imminent. A full-scale eruption could affect the adjacent towns of Camalig, Guinobatan, Daraga, Santo Domingo, Malilipot and the cities of Ligao, Tabaco and Legazpi.

Cedric Daep, provincial disaster coordinator, said the communication link would involve the use of cellular phones, VHF/UHF transmitter, telephone landlines and local radio broadcast networks in Legazpi.

Daep said the system would enhance the dispatching of alert bulletins and other information to and from the volcano institute and the disaster councils.

"With the present system in place, we are confident that communication flow will not be hampered as we will have a back-up system in case one of them fails," he said.

Villagers seek shelter in schools and churches

Flows of lava accompanied by showers of molten rock shooting into the sky have forced villagers living close to a volcano in eastern Indonesia to shelter in schools and churches, officials said yesterday.

Dali Ahmad, an Indonesian volcanologist, said by telephone that there did not appear to be a danger of a major eruption by Mount Karangetan at the moment but the lava continued to threaten nearby villages.

There have been no reports of casualties so far from the volcano on Siau island, which lies north of Manado on Sulawesi island, 2,200 km northeast of the capital Jakarta.

"It is true that lava is flowing but it is not as strong as yesterday and only flowed 2 km. But there is no buffer," Ahmad said by telephone from the Centre of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation in Bandung.

He said the alert status on the mountain was still at maximum.

A health ministry official said that 3,491 people or 891 families had fled the area close to the volcano.

- Reuters