2 steam-driven explosions observed on Mayon

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned the public that sudden explosions and ashfall could still threaten areas around Mayon Volcano after it spewed ash Monday morning.

Two phreatic eruptions occurred on Mayon Volcano from 7:59 a.m. to 8:05 a.m.

The steam-driven explosions generated “grayish to grayish white ash plume that rose 300 to 500 meters above the summit before drifting southwest,” Phivolcs said in a bulletin.

The alert level on Mayon was downgraded to Alert Level 2 last March, which means that the country’s most active volcano “is at a moderate level of unrest.”

“DOST-PHIVOLCS reminds the public that sudden explosions, lava collapses, pyroclastic density currents and ashfall can still occur and threaten areas in the upper to middle slopes of Mayon,” it said.

The agency also warned against entering the six kilometer-radius Permanent Danger Zone and the seven kilometer-radius Extended Danger Zone, which stretches from Anoling, Camalig to Sta. Misericodia, Sto. Domingo.

Last January, Phivolcs declared Alert Level 4, which warned of an imminent hazardous eruption, on Mayon. Phivolcs has five alert levels, with Level 5 indicating that a hazardous eruption is already happening.

Mayon is the most active of the country's 22 volcanoes and one of the deadliest.

Four foreign tourists and their local tour guide were killed when it last erupted in May 2013.

In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the nearby town of Cagsawa.