More than 300 families have been evacuated from their homes after the Mayon volcano released massive amounts of ash over the weekend following the collapse of lava deposits, Philippine authorities reported today.
While there was no explosive eruption from Mayon—which has been erupting moderately and intermittently since January—large lava deposits on the southwestern slope suddenly descended in a pyroclastic flow on Saturday evening. Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, described the event as an avalanche of hot rocks, ash, and gas.
Officials confirmed that no deaths or injuries were recorded, but immense ash clouds spread across 87 villages in three cities, surprising residents and disrupting road traffic due to poor visibility.
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Camalig Mayor Caloy Baldo, whose town sits near the volcano’s base, noted that visibility was reduced to zero even on national highways. While some villagers panicked, authorities worked to maintain calm. The ash fall damaged local farms and caused the deaths of several livestock animals in Camalig, where a cleanup operation is currently underway for the province of Albay.
Bacolcol stated that while the situation is currently calm, the danger remains persistent. The 2,462-meter volcano is one of the premier tourist attractions in the Philippines due to its nearly perfect conical shape; however, it remains the most active of the country’s 24 volcanoes. Authorities raised the five-level alert system to Level 3 in January following a series of moderate eruptions that caused falling rocks and deadly pyroclastic flows.
