Kanlaon erupts; ashfall hits 40 Negros villages
BACOLOD CITY—Kanlaon Volcano on Negros Island erupted on Thursday afternoon, generating some 2,000 meters of plume above its crater, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
The “moderately explosive eruption,” which occurred at 4:39 p.m. and lasted for two minutes, was followed by a sustained 40-minute ash emission, according to Phivolcs resident volcanologist Mari Andylene Quintia of the Kanlaon Observatory in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.
The ash venting lasted around 5:25 p.m., Quintia said.
The dark gray plume generated by Thursday’s eruption drifted southwest, Phivolcs said.
It said that pyroclastic density currents (fast-moving mixture of hot gas, ash and volcanic debris) descended from the volcano’s southern and southwestern upper slopes, flowing within a kilometer of the summit crater.
Because of this, Negros Occidental authorities warned residents to be cautious of pyroclastic flows and ashfalls. Phivolcs had advised the use of masks as a precaution.
Affected areas
The eruption caused ashfall and sulfuric smell in 40 nearby villages, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported.
The 4-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) around Kanlaon had been cleared of residents previously, so no preemptive evacuation was necessary at this time, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.
Ashfall and sulfuric smell reached communities in Bago City, Pontevedra, La Castellana, La Carlota City, Moises Padilla, Valladolid, and Hinigaran in Negros Occidental province.
A shockwave or vibration during the explosion was felt in La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Pontevedra, San Enrique and Hinigaran, also in Negros Occidental.
No ashfall was reported in Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.
The last time that Kanlaon Volcano acted this way was in May last year, after a violent eruption a month earlier.
In July last year, Phivolcs downgraded Kanlaon’s alert status from level 3 (magmatic unrest/high level of volcanic unrest) to level 2 (moderate level of volcanic unrest), sending thousands of displaced families back to their homes and communities, except those living within its 4-km PDZ.
Kanlaon towers over the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. Its slopes straddle across at least five localities.
