MAYON VOLCANO LAVA EDGES CLOSE TO COCONUT GROVES
MANILA, JULY 31, 2006 (STAR) Lava from Mt. Mayon in Albay threatened to burn coconut groves along its slopes yesterday as dozens of awed onlookers flocked to the edge of the flow, officials said.The volcano came to life in a mild eruption on June 14, oozing lava from the crater of the 8,118-foot mountain.
The country’s chief volcanologist said the lava flow is still moving very slowly down Mayon, which continued to show signs of a possible explosive eruption as opposed to the current mild episode.
There are coconut trees in the path of the lava, but there are no houses close to the molten rocks, said Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Cedric Daep, disaster action officer for Albay, said local officials have started fumigating shelters to get rid of mosquitoes in preparation for a possible mass evacuation.
Solidum, in Manila where he is receiving reports from scientists in the field, said sulfur dioxide gas readings - indicators of impending eruption - were "very high" at about 3,000-10,000 tons daily last week, compared to the normal level of 500 tons.
"The scenarios will be continuous lava flow or there might be a shift to an explosive phase," Solidum said.
He said that based on previous events, a steady increase in sulfur dioxide emissions could culminate in an eruption. A sudden decrease after very high readings could also result in a large explosion, characterized by tall ash columns and pyroclastic flows, which are clouds of extremely hot gases, ash and other debris that race down mountain slopes at high speed, incinerating everything in their path.
Earthquakes may signal rising magma levels and the "inflation" of the mountain, all signs of a possible violent eruption, Solidum said.
Yesterday, dozens of residents, visitors from nearby towns and local tourists, flocked to the village of Mabinit on the outskirts of Legazpi City, capital of Albay, to watch in awe as lava fragments crumbled, exposing molten rocks beneath.
One man went up to one of the rocks to light a cigarette. Some posed for pictures with the smoldering lava deposit more than five stories high behind them as a backdrop.
Vegetation close to the edge of the flow caught fire or was singed.
Local residents said a small private chapel made of wood, abandoned after an eruption in 2001, had already been covered by volcanic debris.
Mayon is one of the Philippines’ 22 active volcanoes. Its most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.
The Philippines is in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. — AP, Cet Dematera, Celso Amo
Advancing lava threatens 7,500 Albay residents By Celso Amo and Cet Dematera The Philippine Star 07/31/2006
LEGAZPI CITY — Mayon’s continuous lava flows in the past two weeks now pose a serious threat to nearly 7,500 residents of 10 barangays inside the volcano’s six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone.
This, after a team from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) conducted field observation in Barangay Mabinit here and warned local officials that the lava mass has advanced by about 300 meters from the volcano’s crater.
"If the flow rate persists, the lava flow is expected to reach the boundary of the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone in two to three days," Phivolcs said in a bulletin.
In fact, volcanologists said the Bonga gully, the major lava channel at the southeast flank, is already filled with about six million to 10 million cubic meters of volcanic debris.
Ed Laguerta, Phivolcs’ resident volcanologist, said pyroclastic flows when Mayon erupts could create new channels since the existing ones are heavily silted with volcanic debris.
"Lava flows are less hazardous than pyroclastic flows because lava travels at a very slow speed at low inclines, while pyroclastic materials are super-heated and travel at a very great speed even at low inclines," he said.
Lava flows were observed to be heading toward other gullies leading to the towns of Sto. Domingo, Daraga and Camalig, Laguerta said.
Phivolcs warned that lava or hot molten rock, which has a temperature of 600 degrees Celsius, could trigger wild fires as it reaches the southeast flank of the permanent danger zone. Surface winds blowing south could amplify this threat, it said.
Ricardo Dy, a consultant of the provincial disaster management office, recalled that a male resident died from burns after advancing lava set fire to vegetation when Mayon erupted in 1987.
"We cannot bring the firetrucks up on the slopes and water is scarce there," Dy said.
The Phivolcs report prompted Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzales to convene an emergency meeting yesterday morning at the Lignon Hill Observatory to map out strategies.
"Phivolcs is going to issue a new advisory… (Our problem concerns) those residents who might venture (into) the danger zone and (who might) be hit by pyroclastic flows," said Cedric Daep, chief of the provincial disaster management office.
He identified the 10 threatened barangays within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone as Buhian, Magapo and Buang in Tabaco City; Miisi in Daraga; Anoling, Upper Quirangay in Purok 6 and 7, Upper Cabangan and Sua in Camalig; and Baligang in Ligao City.
Authorities though have extended the danger zone to seven kilometers at the southeast flank of the 2,462-meter volcano.
"There is no evacuation order yet," Daep said, adding that such an order will be immediately issued if the volcano’s alert level is raised to 4.
Lava continued to flow from the volcano’s summit crater in the past 24 hours, while the volcano’s sulfur dioxide emission remained high at 6,586 tons per day compared to 6,099 tons last Saturday.
Steaming from the summit crater was voluminous, reflecting an active degassing from the crater area.
Seismic networks around the volcano recorded 419 tremors and 15 volcanic earthquakes.
Volcanologists said these tremors were caused by the flowing lava and the lava blocks cascading down the slopes, and the volcanic quakes by the ascending magma inside the volcano’s chamber.
Gauging from these parameters, they said Mayon continues to be at a "high level of unrest with fair probability for an explosive eruption."
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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