Ash eruptions, quakes shake Kanlaon volcano

by Iza Iglesias:

TRACES of ashes were reported seen in some villages near Mt. Kanalon in Negros Province Sunday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Kanlaon volcano produced a low energy ash eruptions at 09:51 a.m. and 10:08 a.m. Sunday that lasted for five and six minutes, respectively.

Traces of ashes were reported in Sitio Bais, Brgy. Yubo in La Carlota City on the western side and Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana on the southwestern slopes of Kanlaon Volcano.

Phivolcs said that although no seismic signals were recorded after the event, it generated a light-gray to grayish cloud of ash reaching a height of 200 to 300 meters which then drifted southwest.

Since Saturday, the volcano’s seismic monitoring network recorded four volcanic earthquakes.

Also visually observed were two low-energy ash eruptions from the active summit crater.

However, Phivolcs said these events were not detected by the seismic network, indicating a shallow volcanic source.

The first ash eruption occurred at 11:40 a.m. on Saturday. It produced dirty white ash clouds that reached 200 meters above the summit before slowly drifting southwest.

A second ash eruption occurred at 1:01 p.m also on Saturday. It produced dirty white to light gray ash clouds reaching 200 meters above the summit and again slowly drifted southwest.

Phivolcs said that background activity was characterized by the emission of weak to moderate white to light gray steam plumes from the active crater that drifted northeast to southwest.

Meanwhile, Alert Level 1 status remains in effect over Kanlaon Volcano, which means that it is at an “abnormal condition” and is in a “period of current unrest”.

Phivolcs reminded the local government units and the public that entry into the 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) is strictly prohibited because of the possibility of sudden and hazardous steam-driven or phreatic eruptions.

Civil aviation authorities must also advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as airborne ash from a sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft, Phivolcs added.

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