Mayon Volcano back under Alert Level 3 after ‘moderately explosive’ eruption  

MANILA, Philippines — Phivolcs raised Mayon Volcano’s alert status to Level 3 on Friday, October 30, after a moderately explosive eruption sent a column of ash 3 kilometers above the crater.

This comes less than three months after state volcanologists had lowered its alert status. 

The eruption began at 11:53 a.m. and ended at 11:59 a.m., lasting nearly six minutes, Phivolcs said.

The grayish plume rose above the volcano before drifting west-southwest. 

The upgrade from Alert Level 2, on a scale of 0 to 5, marks a new eruptive phase. In its 12:30 p.m. bulletin, Phivolcs said the volcano had entered a new phase of magmatic eruption, and that lava flows and pyroclastic density currents, known locally as uson, could affect its upper to middle slopes within the coming days to weeks. 

The agency recommended evacuating residents inside the six-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ), said ashfall was expected in Daraga, Guinobatan and nearby Albay towns, and asked civil aviation authorities to warn pilots against flying close to the summit. 

Friday’s eruption cuts short a relative lull at the country’s most active volcano. Phivolcs first raised Alert Level 3 on January 6, after the summit lava dome collapsed and sent uson down the slopes, and kept the volcano at that level for nearly seven months as lava flowed down the Mi-isi, Bonga and Basud gullies. 

When it stepped the volcano down to Level 2 in August, Phivolcs cited a general decline in unrest recorded since July 23. It cautioned, however, that the downgrade “should not be interpreted to mean that the volcano’s unrest has ceased."