Mayon crater ‘glows’, sign of ‘remnant magma’ moving up — Phivolcs
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2020 12:15:38 +0000
A “crater glow” has been detected on Mayon Volcano in Albay over the past two days, an indication that “remnant magma” may be moving up to the shallow levels of the edifice, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said on Wednesday.
In its 4 p.m. advisory, Phivolcs said the current activity of Mayon was “likely caused by hot magmatic gases heating the overlying atmosphere.”
Since the end of its magmatic eruption in March 2018, Mayon has shown declining earthquake activity and sulfur dioxide emission.
Phivolcs noted, however, a “slight swelling” or inflation on the edifice in February 2019.
“These observations indicate that Mayon’s recent behavior has been mainly driven by changes occurring within magma already emplaced beneath the edifice rather than by renewed magma intrusion events,” it said.
Phivolcs said that Alert Level 2 remained over the volcano because it was at a “moderate level of unrest”.
Phivolcs recommended that entry into the six kilometer-radius permanent danger zone and a precautionary seven kilometer-radius extended danger zone in the south-southwest to east-northeast sector, stretching from Anoling, Camalig to Sta. Misericordia, Sto. Domingo, was prohibited.
It reminded the public that “sudden explosions, lava collapse, pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) and ashfall could occur without warning and threaten areas in the upper to middle slopes of Mayon.”
Phivolcs advised people residing close to these danger areas to observe precautions against rockfalls, PDCs and ashfall.
“Active stream/river channels and those identified as perennially lahar-prone areas on all sectors of the volcano should also be avoided especially during extreme weather conditions when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall,” it added.
Phivolcs assured the public that it was closely monitoring Mayon Volcano’s condition and any development would be relayed to all concerned. FRANZ LEWIN EMBUDO