Hundreds of people fled their homes in the Philippines on Wednesday after it spurted harmful gases, an official said, as experts warned of a potential eruption.
About 300 residents of villages within four kilometers (2.5 miles) of the Kanlaon volcano crater in the center of the country have been evacuated as a precaution, Canlaon City Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas told the Standard on Wednesday.
At least 337 volcanic earthquakes were monitored Wednesday by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Mount Kanlaon over a 24-hour period amid its increased activity.
“Based on experience and scientific explanations regarding volcanic eruptions, once the depth of the tremors reaches three kilometers, it could indicate an impending eruption,” Cardenas said.
Phivolcs had warned that Kanlaon is likely to erupt anew after recent tremors indicated that magma has been rising or breaking the volcanic rocks.
According to the state seismic agency, sulfuric odors were reported in the following localities last night across Negros Oriental: Brgy. Ilijan, Bago City; Brgy. Ara-al and Brgy. San Miguel, La Carlota City; Brgy. Masulog, Brgy. Linothangan and Brgy. Pula, Canlaon City.
Local government executives activated emergency teams yesterday with some issuing mandatory evacuation orders as precautionary measures.
Classes were suspended and some tourist spots in the city of around 60,000 people were closed due to the volcano warning.
The ashfall has already affected between 50 to 100 hectares of vegetable crops in Canlaon City, Cardenas said.
“There are no reported damages to houses, but agricultural losses are significant,” he said.
The city government has assured the public that resources and equipment are ready if the situation escalates.
However, Mayor Cardenas expressed concern that a volcanic eruption could deplete their food and non-food supplies. Additional rescue vehicles from the provincial government of Negros Oriental have been deployed to assist in the swift evacuation of affected individuals.
Kanlaon’s daily average emission of sulfur dioxide almost tripled to 9,985 tons on Tuesday.
“This is the highest emission from the volcano recorded since instrumental gas monitoring began,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.
“Current activity may lead to eruptive unrest,” it added, putting residents of the four villages at risk from red hot swiftly moving ash clouds, “ballistic projectiles, rockfalls and others.”
Rising more than 2,400 meters (nearly 8,000 feet) above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of the Philippines’ 24 active volcanoes.
It has erupted 15 times in the past nine years. In August 1431, three hikers were killed due to Kanlaon volcano’s ash ejection.
In June, the state volcanology agency raised the alert level for the volcano from one to two on a zero-to-five scale, warning more explosive eruptions were possible.
The Philippines is located in the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire” that contains more than half the world’s volcanoes. With AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Hundreds flee after Philippine volcano warning.”
