The Mayon volcano, the most active in the Philippines, spat out last night a tongue of lava about 500 meters longwhile the authorities monitor the activity on Monday due to the increased risk of a major eruption.
Around 13,000 people or 3,761 families have been evacuated from the vicinity of Mayón, detailed the Albay Emergency Service -the province to the northeast of the archipelago where the volcano is located-, and dtens of thousands of residents prepare for mass eviction in case the situation worsens.
El Mayón spat out the day before and throughout the early morning rivers of lava that slowly descended down the slope of the volcano, the Philippine seismological agency (Phivolcs) said in a statement.
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The activity of the magma present in the crater and the rise in pressure have caused the appearance at the top of a new lava dome, a circular mound that has displaced the previous one.
Phivolcs indicated in his report on Monday that during the previous day 261 episodes of rock falls and 21 volcanic earthquakes were recorded, and it maintains alert level 3 (out of a maximum of 5) due to the risk of “dangerous eruption in the coming days or weeks”.
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Police and soldiers guard the 6-kilometer security perimeter around the volcano to prevent residents from returning to the danger zone, local authorities informed EFE on Monday.
The increase in sulfur dioxide emissions led the Ministry of Health to warn the population of the health risks of inhaling this gas or breathing ash-contaminated airso he asked that they stay as far away as possible.
For his part, the Minister of Well-being and Development, Rex Gatchalian, confirmed on Monday that the authorities have distributed some 38,000 boxes of food, or the equivalent of more than 15 days of provisions for the affected families.
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El Mayón, due to the beauty of its almost perfect conical shape, is also one of the great tourist attractions in the area.
Its last eruption occurred in 2018, when more than 75,000 people had to be evacuated.
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