Kanlaon Volcano emitted ash again on Sunday morning, October 5, which points to a future major eruption, a Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) official said.
The weak ash emission occurred at 8:23 a.m., generating grayish plumes that rose 500 meters above the summit crater before drifting to the southwest.
Kanlaon Volcano had 63 volcanic earthquakes and emitted 1,638 tons of sulfur dioxide from 12 a.m. Saturday to 12 a.m. Sunday, Phivolcs reported.
The activities at Kanlaon in the past months are all indications that Kanlaon is preparing for a major magmatic eruption in the future, Antonia Bornas, chief of the Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division, said.
“It may happen soon or in the next few years, we cannot say when,” she said.
“It could also take many years before it culminates in a major magmatic eruption, so we may be looking at several years of unrest” such as ash emissions and minor explosive eruptions, Bornas said.*