More than 12,000 people in the Philippines have evacuated areas near Mayon Volcano, as experts warn of a possible "hazardous eruption." The lava flow has reached some areas around three kilometres away from the volcano.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Sayat
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More than 12,000 people in the Philippines have fled their homes near Mayon Volcano, 330 kilometers (205 miles) south of Manila, as the volcano continued to erupt for a third day on Monday, ejecting a cloud of searing gas and ash.
The Philippines ordered the forced evacuation of people from two more municipalities near the volcano, as the country's chief volcanologist warned of a possible hazardous eruption "within weeks or even within days."
"There is an ongoing forced evacuation from the municipalities of Daraga and Legazpi because of the lava flow," Romina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told reporters.
"The lava flow has reached some areas around three kilometres away from the volcano," Marasigan added.
Mayon showed a bright crater glow on Sunday, signifying lava had started to flow from the crater.
Volcano raised to level three
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), at least two steam eruptions were recorded before noon (local time) on Sunday. By evening, the institute had raised the alert level at the mountain to three.
"This means that Mayon is exhibiting relatively high unrest and that magma is at the crater and that hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days," Phivolcs said.
Level three is considered "critical" while level four indicates an eruption is imminent. Level five signals that an eruption is underway.
The organization said it had been expecting an eruption since the volcano began acting abnormally last year. It urged residents to stay away from a 7-kilometer danger zone around Mayon's crater.
Mayon Volcano is the most active in the Philippines. Its deadliest eruption came in 1814, when 1,200 people were killed and a town was buried in volcanic mud. Another eruption in 1993 killed 79 people. Its last deadly eruption came in May 2013, when it killed five hikers and injured seven others.
Lava flows from the crater of the Philippines' Mayon Volcano after it erupted in September 2014Image: AFP/Getty Images/Charism Sayat
Shelter for displaced residents
Marasigan said the displaced residents have taken shelter in schools turned into evacuation centers. "The number of displaced residents could still go up if the threat of more phreatic eruptions increase," she added.
A phreatic eruption is a steam eruption that occurs when groundwater is heated by magma. The extremely high temperature of the magma causes almost instantaneous evaporation of water to steam, which results in an explosion of steam, water, ash, rock and volcanic bombs.
The 2,472-meter (8110-feet) volcano has erupted about 50 times since 1616.
In pictures: Bali's Mount Agung erupts
A volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali has erupted, sending plumes of ash thousands of meters into the sky. Authorities have upgraded flight warnings and ordered people still in the exclusion zone to leave.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto/N. Budhiana
Ash cloud
Mount Agung in Bali's northeast erupted several times over the weekend, coating nearby resorts and villages in a thin layer of ash. Dark gray clouds spewing from the peak could be seen moving away from the capital, Denpasar, and toward the neighboring island of Lombok.
Image: Reuters
Lava's reflection
As night fell, a deep orange glow from the crater lit up part of an ash cloud that reached up to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) into the sky. Mount Agung started showing signs of activity in September, prompting authorities to raise the volcano's emergency status to the highest level and evacuate 140,000 people living nearby. The alert was later downgraded on October 29 after a decrease in activity.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Lisnawati/AP
Ash-covered paradise
Bali's surf beaches, temples and lush forests attract about 5 million visitors each year, making the island Indonesia's top tourist destination. But Made Sugiri, from the Mahagiri Panoramic Resort, says tourist numbers have been down in recent months. "We are out of the danger zone, but like other resorts in the region, of course the eruptions cause a decrease in the number of visitors," he said.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Jilin
'Still safe'
Indonesia's disaster agency says Bali is "still safe" for tourists, noting in a statement that the emergency status for Agung remained at level 3, one below the highest, over the weekend. Despite a number of eruptions, it said volcanic activity remained relatively stable.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Tumbelaka
Flight warning upgraded
It was a different story for the aviation alert status, however, which was lifted on Sunday from orange to red — its highest level. Although many flights went ahead as planned, hundreds of people were stranded by cancellations. Lombok's airport had to be shut down, but officials said Bali's main airport would remain open for as long as it was still possible for planes to skirt the ash cloud.
Image: REUTERS
Exclusion zone
About 25,000 people fled their homes during the latest eruptions. Authorities have warned anyone still inside a 7.5-kilometer (4.5-mile) exclusion zone around the crater to leave. Mount Agung is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Its last major eruption in 1963 killed more than a thousand people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Lisnawati/AP
Magma and ash
Volcanologists described the renewed activity on Saturday as a phreatic eruption, with the expulsion of smoke caused by the heating and expansion of groundwater. On Sunday, officials said things may have progressed to a magmatic eruption, which results in the spewing of ash.
Safety measures
"Mount Agung ... is still spewing ash at the moment, but we need to monitor and be cautious over the possibility of a strong, explosive eruption," Indonesian government volcanologist Gede Suantika said. Soldiers and police are distributing masks to people in nearby villages and resorts to protect them from ash.
