Crater glow observed anew at Kanlaon

BACOLOD CITY—The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported that a reddish crater glow was again observed at Kanlaon Volcano on Monday night, indicating continued activity at the summit.

The “banaag,” or crater glow, was visible to the naked eye for the second consecutive evening. It was captured in photos taken by an observer in Canlaon City around 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., according to Mari-Andylene Quintia, a Phivolcs resident volcanologist.

On Sunday evening, a similar crater glow was also observed with the naked eye and widely shared by netizens online, prompting renewed monitoring by Phivolcs officials and local authorities.

Phivolcs officials said they are closely tracking Kanlaon’s activity over the coming nights to determine whether the glow becomes sustained or intensifies—conditions that may signal increasing magmatic unrest.

Monitoring

Ma. Antonia Bornas, chief of the Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division, earlier warned that such a development could indicate magma is already near or at the crater, suggesting a possible magmatic eruption within days.

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She added that while the glow observed so far appears intermittent, it may be caused by superheated gas escaping from the volcano. However, if the phenomenon becomes sustained or stronger, alert level 3 may be raised from the current alert level 2.

Since Nov. 4, 2024, superheated volcanic gas emissions have been intermittently detected at night using infrared monitoring, according to Phivolcs. Gas emissions have also become more frequent since April 13.