LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Checkpoints around Mayon Volcano’s six-kilometer permanent danger zone were set up again after it was placed under Alert Level 1.
“We will strictly enforce a ban on entry into the danger zone because Mayon may erupt any time. We are not even sure if this Alert Level 1 will be elevated should the volcano’s condition worsen further,” Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office head Cedric Daep said.
He said quarry activities would be monitored, especially since some operators recently resumed their operations.
Paul Alanis, resident volcanologist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) at the Lignon Hill Observatory in this city, said local government officials of cities and towns surrounding Mayon were asked to enforce the ban.
“We coordinated with them because they are the ones who have the personnel to impose the entry ban... in their respective jurisdictions,” Alanis said.
Mayon is surrounded by the towns of Daraga, Camalig, Sto. Domingo, Guinobatan and Malilipot as well as the cities of Tabaco, Ligao and Legazpi.
Phivolcs raised Mayon’s alert level to 1 on Sunday after it observed slight extrusion of the summit dome toward the crater by approximately 40,000 cubic meters between June 6 and June 20 this year.
The agency also cited ”short-lived spikes” in the number of low-frequency volcanic earthquakes recorded on May 26 and June 20.
It was only on July 30 when Mayon’s alert level was downgraded to zero or normal.