• CHERYL G. CRUZ
A minor explosive eruption occurred from the summit crater of Mount Kanlaon at 3:11 p.m. Feb. 6, which lasted for two minutes and with ashfall reported in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The eruption generated a poorly visible plume that rose 600 meters above the vent before drifting southwest, scattering thin ashfall over Sitio Mercedes and San Luis in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, the Kanlaon volcano eruption update, as of 6:30 p.m., stated.
Phivolcs said that because the eruption occurred during a rainy weather, “syn-eruption channel-confined lahars were immediately generated in the Buhangin River, which flows through La Castellana and Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental.”
The explosion also generated an airwave that was recorded at 70 Pascals five kilometers east of the summit crater and heard as a booming sound in Brgy. Yubo, La Carlota City and in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, while sulfurous fumes were reported in several barangays of La Castellana, the Phivolcs said.
The upper to middle slopes of the volcano have been undergoing inflation or swelling since Jan. 10 this year. “When occasional plugging of the volcanic conduit occurs and SO2 emission and degassing weaken, the resulting pressure build-up within the conduit could trigger explosions such as today’s event,” it added.
Alert Level 3 or magmatic unrest prevails over Kanlaon Volcano since its explosive eruption Dec. 9 last year.
This means that the magmatic eruption that occurred may be followed by similar short-lived explosive eruptions which may generate pyroclastic density currents (PDC) within the six-kilometer radius area on the summit, the Phivolcs said.
It urged that communities within the six-km radius of the summit crater be evacuated due to the danger of lava flows, rockfalls, pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), and other related hazards.
Local government units must also prepare their communities within the PDC hazard zone for subsequent evacuation in case the unrest further escalates and hazardous worst-case explosive eruption becomes imminent.
The Moises Padilla Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office urged residents affected by the sulfurous fumes to mask up and remain vigilant. | CGC
