manila – A volcano suddenly erupted in the central Philippines on Monday, sending plumes of ash into the sky, as the federal government ordered the evacuation of thousands of people from coastal villages. Rising more than 8,000 feet above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of the 24 active volcano in philippines,
The roughly four-minute explosion Monday afternoon sent a column of ash 2.5 miles above the crater and sent a massive blast of hot ash, gases and fractured volcanic rock about 2 miles southeast of the mountain, officials told a news conference. . The family’s volcano alert level has been raised, indicating that more explosive eruptions may still occur.
No injuries were reported from Monday’s eruption, although volcanic ash fell over a large area around the ocean to the west of the volcano, including Vintage province, about 120 miles away. Officials warned that the ash cloud obscured visibility and created the possibility of a potential firestorm.
Philippine Data Company/PHIVOLCS
“Being hit by these pyroclastic density currents is like being run over by a high-speed vehicle,” said Maria Antonia Bornas, volcano tracking chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
“If the ash enters your lungs it will suffocate,” he said, urging local authorities to evacuate 15 villages within six kilometers of the crater.
He said many cities and towns around the volcano were badly rained down by ash from the eruption and warned that thick rains could dislodge untouched volcanic sediments from the eruptive eruption, burying communities beneath.
Chona Aplaon/AP
About a dozen domestic flights and one flight to Singapore were canceled on Monday and Tuesday due to the explosion, according to the Philippine Civil Gliding Authority.
L.A. “Evacuation continues” in 4 high altitude villages. In the town of Castellana, on the volcano’s southwest slope, municipal police officer Personnel Sergeant Ronel Arevalo informed AFP, adding that he did not have an overall tally of civilians to be evacuated. The Philippine government noted in a notice posted online on its legal data company website that “urgent evacuation operations are underway” in the area around the volcano, which will affect approximately 87,000 residents.
l. A. Castellana resident Diane Paula Abendon, 24, used her cell phone to flick a video clip of the giant cauliflower-shaped smoke plume above the crater.
Dianne Paula Abendon/Reuters
“In the last few days we have seen black smoke coming out of the volcano. We were expecting it to erupt any time this week,” he told AFP via telephone.
Abendon said the country was in a hurry waiting for evacuation orders, but added that the volcanic process appeared to be somewhat encouraging for the next few days.
The government said flights to Bacolod-Silay International Airport, later Volcano, remained standard, but carriers have been warned against flying below 10,000 feet, such as Volcano.
A legal bulletin from the Civil Gliding Authority of the Philippines states, “Flight operators are advised to avoid flying close to the volcano due to the potential dangers of sudden steam-driven or phreatic eruptions and predawn volcanic activity.”
In September, a large number of nearby citizens were evacuated after thousands of harmful gases were released from the volcano at the same time. The Seismological Office reported that Kanlaon has erupted more than 40 times since 1866.
In 1996, three hikers died due to volcanic ash.
