The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) stressed the need for continued vigilance in areas close to Kanlaon Volcano during the holidays.
Mt. Kanlaon’s spewing of ash multiple times on Monday is part of its continuing unrest that is why Alert Level 2 over the volcano has not been lowered, Ma. Antonia Bornas, PHIVOLCS Volcano Monitoring Eruption Prediction Division chief, said on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
“If we look at the long term situation, the volcano is preparing for a major eruption,” she said.
There are periods when the volcano calms down and then resumes ash emissions and or has minor eruptions, Bornas said.
Right now there have not been too many volcanic earthquakes at Kanlaon but its sulfur dioxide went up during the weekend, she said.
They expect that Kanlaon’s unrest will progress into cycles, she said.
It is possible that it will have more ash emissions that could lead to a minor explosive eruption, she said.
But it could take several years of unrest before a major eruption, Bornas said.
She said successive ash emissions and a minor explosive explosion would mean fresh material for channel confined minor lahar flow in La Castellana and La Carlota City in Negros Occidental.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council advised the public Monday night to be cautious of possible ashfall emitted by Kanlaon Volcano.
Kanlaon Volcano spewed ash four times on Monday from 9:01 a.m. to 9:20 a.m., 10:29 a.m. to 11:07 a.m., 4:05 p.m. to 6:02 p.m., and 8:31 p.m. to 9:10 p.m., Phivolcs said.*