• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported on Monday, Feb. 10, that based on its projections magma is now less than five kilometers away from the crater of Mt. Kanlaon.
Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol said they are closely monitoring the rising of magma to the crater.
“If the magma nears the crater, it becomes swollen, which is an indication that it is accumulating near the crater,” Bacolcol said.
As of this time, the inflation is still on the eastern side of the volcano, and not in all its sides.
Alert Level 3, or magmatic unrest, prevails over Mt. Kanlaon.
State volcanologists noted a significant drop in sulfur dioxide to 2,183 tons on Feb. 9, from its average of more than 4,000 tons since June 3 last year.
Phivolcs also noted the absence of ash emissions since Feb. 7, which may indicate that the volcanic conduit is plugged, resulting in pressure build-up, that could trigger explosion.
Eruptions were recorded on Dec. 9 last year and on Feb. 6 this year.
Based on their projections, Bacolcol said they are looking into three scenarios, including the slow rise of magma, where the lava may overflow from the crater, similar to what had happened at Mt. Mayon last year, with damage only confined to small areas.
It took six months for the magma to weaken, he added.
The second scenario is the fast rising of magma and plugging of the volcanic conduit, which may result to strong eruption, Bacolcol said.
If this happens, it will possibly lead to hazardous pyroclastic density currents, with danger zone expanded up to 10 kilometers.
Such volcanic activity will not last long as the release of magma from the volcano is very fast, the Phivolcs chief said.
The third scenario is the weakening on the movement of magma, which will eventually lead to the complete stop of its activity.
“If this happens, we may lower the alert level from 3 to 2,” he added.
Bacolcol said there was no reported damage caused by the muddy stream flow due to rains last week as it was confined only to Buhangin River, which flows through La Castellana and Moises Padilla towns. | GB