Phivolcs warns against staying longer at Mayon

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines — Participants in Holy Week activities slated at the foot of Mt. Mayon have been advised to avoid staying longer in the area as the volcano’s condition remains abnormal.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it does not prohibit economic activities around Mayon, provided people always take the necessary precautions should the volcano’s condition worsen.

“Phivolcs is allowing people to visit the Mayon Resthouse and the Cross Visitation in Barangay Buang in Tabaco City, but they are warned against staying longer or setting up camps,” Paul Alanis of Phivolcs told The STAR yesterday.

Since March 14, seismologists have been observing faint crater glow and fluctuating sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the volcano.

The faint crater glow is a remnant of the old magma deposited on the upper crater when the volcano erupted in 2018, Alanis said.

He said as long as the other parameters remain at the baseline level such as the SO2 emission and the volcanic earthquakes, Mayon is not yet heading for another eruption.

Some 60,000 families were displaced when the volcano erupted in 2018.