Philippines places Albay province under state of calamity amid volcano eruption

MANILA - The Philippines placed Albay province under a state of calamity on Tuesday as glowing red lava continues to creep down the slopes of Mayon volcano.

The volcano, located approximately 300 km southeast of Manila, has been spewing ash into the skies since last Saturday afternoon, prompting the government to evacuate the people around the danger zone.

In light of ongoing volcanic and seismic activity, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has raised the alert level to 3, warning that the areas around the volcano are "currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days."

Governor of the province Al Francis Bichara said the provincial board on Tuesday approved his request to declare a state of calamity, thus allowing the local government to fully mobilize all agencies and resources to respond to emergencies.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Bichara said there are now about 25,000 evacuees in the province from 25 affected villages.

"We have to support the operation and we need to feed the evacuees so we need to use the calamity fund," he said, adding that the local government can only have access to the calamity fund if the province is under a state of calamity.

He said the province is bracing for more expenses as the number of evacuees will increases in the coming days.

Moreover, Bichara said the local government needs to keep the people away from the danger zone.

Phivolcs said it observed quiet lava effusion from a new summit lava dome, lava flow down and lava collapse events during the past 24 hours.

Moreover, it said it recorded a total of nine tremors "four of which accompanied short-duration lava fountaining," and 75 lava collapse events that triggered rockfalls.

The institute warned people anew "to be vigilant and desist from entering the 6-km radius permanent danger zone and the 7-km extended danger zone on the southern flanks (of the volcano) due to the danger of rockfalls, landslides, and sudden explosions or dome collapse that may generate hazardous volcanic flows."

Mayon Volcano is on the southern tip of the Philippine main island of Luzon. It is a popular tourist destination in the Bicol region. It is famed for its near-perfect cone but has a long history of deadly eruptions. It has erupted 51 times during the last 400 years.

In an eruption in 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed and three towns were buried under mud and rock.