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12.15.2009 Thousands evacuate as Mayon spews mud BusinessWorld Online
AUTHORITIES STARTED evacuating about 50,000 people from around the country’s most active volcano yesterday as it spewed burning mud and rocks.
Mayon volcano in Albay province south of Metro Manila, famed for its near-perfect cone shape in a coconut-growing Bicol region, started to release lava early this week and vulcanologists are expecting a major eruption in the next few days.
"We are in the process of evacuating nearly 10,000 families around the 6-8 kilometer danger zone around the volcano," Cedric Daep, head of the provincial public safety office, told reporters.
Mr. Daep said the fleeing residents were being temporarily housed in schoolbuildings and public gymnasiums, where local government officials set up food and relief centers.
"We have enough food for all these people for only a month," Mr. Daep said, adding humanitarian and nongovernmental groups have pledged to send food, water, medicines and blankets.
Renato V. Solidum, the country’s chief vulcanologist, told Reuters yesterday the alert level around Mayon had been raised to 3, indicating volcanic materials were now near the top of the crater and "incandescent materials" were detaching.
Level 4 means an eruption is imminent while Level 5 means an eruption is in progress.
"We’ve been monitoring a high-level of unrest and there could be a hazardous explosion coming," Mr. Solidum said.
The Philippines lies on the "Ring of Fire," a belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean that is also prone to earthquakes. Mayon is the most active of 22 volcanoes in the country, having erupted more than 50 times in the last four centuries. The most destructive event came in February 1841 when lava flows buried a town and killed 1,200 people. The last time Mayon erupted was in 2006. -- Reuters
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