Entry into Mt. Kanlaon danger zone halted amid threat of blast

RICH BIODIVERSITY Oriental Mindoro is home to Mt. Halcon, the province’s highest peak, as seen in this undated photo. Provincial officials have been protective of the province’s rich biodiversity with moves to declare Halcon a national park to shield it from mining activities and ensure the preservation of its unique ecological heritage. —PHOTO COURTESY OF MINDORO BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC.

BACOLOD CITY—The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) has suspended the 10-hour daily window that allows evacuees to return and carry out farming and other livelihood activities in Mt. Kanlaon’s 6-kilometer extended danger zone amid fears of another eruption and the threat of lahar flow.

Donato Sermeno III, regional director of OCD Negros Island Region, said the suspension was imposed on Wednesday until further notice.

Residents, who had been evacuated out of the danger zone, were allowed to return during the day from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. to tend to their farms and animals so they could earn and continue to support their families.

However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded 31 volcanic earthquakes at Mt. Kanlaon from 5 a.m. on Monday to 5 a.m. on Tuesday, emitting 1,020 tons of sulfur dioxide flux.

Citing previous experiences, Sermeno said these parameters might be precursors to sudden eruption, prompting the Regional Task Force Kanlaon to suspend the entry to the extended danger zone.

“The number of earthquakes and other parameters at the volcano in the coming days will determine whether the suspension can be lifted,” Sermeno said.

Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol said no one should be allowed within the 6-km extended danger zone as the threat of an eruption remains, with Mt. Kanlaon still under alert level 3, meaning the volcano is in a state of magmatic unrest with increased chances of short-lived moderately explosive eruptions.