Mount Mayon erupted again this morning, prompting evacuations in towns near the active volcano.
A CNN Philippines report said the ash cloud was estimated at a 5 kilometers high.
Alert level 4, one notch away from the highest warning, was raised yesterday after ash from the eruption caused zero visibility in some nearby towns.
READ: Mount Mayon eruption spews huge ash cloud
Work and classes have been suspended in three towns so far.
According to ABS-CBN News, the number of evacuees could swell to 80,000 from 27,000.
Before this morning’s eruption, lava was seen oozing from the mountain at around 9:40 pm last night.
LOOK: Lava spewed out of Mayon Volcano again at 9:40 this evening. pic.twitter.com/zccY71fDxa
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) January 22, 2018
Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara said the province might seek additional funding from the national government to address the disaster.
The eruption may have been “phreato-magmatic” since apart from magma or molten rocks, the volcano also spewed steam, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) Director Renato Solidum said.
Volcanic ash will be blown towards the southwest as the wind comes from northeast affecting the towns of Guinobatan, Camalig and nearby towns, he said.
An alert level 4 indicates a hazardous eruption is “imminent” and that the danger zone has been extended to an 8-kilometer radius.
“The public is strongly advised to be vigilant and desist from entering this danger zone. Civil aviation authorities must also advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ash from eruptions can be hazardous to aircraft,” PHIVOLCS said.
Mayon rises 2,460 meters above a largely agricultural region some 330 kilometers southwest of Manila. It is considered the nation’s most active volcano.
Steam-driven eruptions and rockfalls began earlier this month and the crater began glowing soon after, in what PHIVOLCS said was a sign of the growth of a new lava dome.
“The volcano is still inflated. There is magma beneath the volcano, which might be erupted. If the trend would show us that it’s continuously declining, we can lower the alert. As of now, we cannot lower that because that kind of trend has not started yet,” Solidum told ANC.
Mayon in the past had exhibited periods of no activity in between eruptions.
“What we need to do is to make sure that people are away from the danger zone so that when that explosion happens, they will not be affected by pyroclastic flows,” he added.
Solidum said the worst Mayon eruptions happened in 1814 and 1897, when there was a rapid ascent of magma, which generated very voluminous ash clouds and pyroclastic flows moving down.
“We don’t see that happening. The activity was not very fast from the very start,” he said.
with reports from ABS-CBN News
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