BBC Sunday, 24 June, 2001, 09:48 GMT 10:48 UK

Thousands flee Philippines volcano

Mayon has shown signs of restiveness for months

Thousands of residents have been evacuated around the Mount Mayon volcano in the central Philippines, as lava flows and earth tremors led to warnings that an even greater eruption is imminent.

The volcano has been erupting gently for some days, with lava steadily spouting out of the crater, huge red hot boulders have been rolling down the flanks of the mountain, and columns of ash have been ejected hundreds of metres into the air.

But on Sunday at 1300 (0500 GMT), the volcano let out a powerful eruption, with huge geysers of rocks, lava and flaming ash shooting up from the crater in loud booms.

Scientists warn that there could be a more explosive and hazardous eruption any time in the next few days.

The Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology set the alert level at a maximum five, indicating that "a hazardous eruption is in progress".

Danger zone

Troops and police have been evacuating the danger zone around the volcano and making sure that 10,000 local people who have now left the area do not return.

"I left because it was making strong noises," Lorna Azona, one of hundreds of villagers gathered at an evacuation centre in Legazpi, 325km (200 miles) southeast of the capital Manila.

"The lava flow was getting strong."

800 metre fountain of lava and gas

Mount Mayon has been showing signs of restiveness for months now.

The volcano is one of the most active in the Philippines. The most recent eruption was only in 2000.

BBC correspondent John MacLean says that the precautions taken that year by the authorities ensured that nobody was killed, in spite of the violence of that eruption - which is a remarkable achievement by local standards.

He says the authorities were so confident of their ability to manage the effects of the eruption, that they have even been trying to promote it as a tourist attraction

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

Answers

LAURI!!!! (newbie to here, from IC) you seeing this??? I don't know how to "pinch" this and cross post with a pic in here! And still can't figure to link since there is a password....I am afraid I will let EVERYONE IN if i post a link! If someone has nothing to dooooooo...I'd be happy to see this in Earth changes at IC crediting OG and Currents. (Smile)

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

I'll do it for the old git! LOL

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

he good, you guys, and quick!!!! thanks a mil, mailman!

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

The old git was sleeping 'cause her and Sweetie went to Wal-Mart at 6 this morning. We were awake and bored! Great time to shop, no traffic.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

Sunday June 24 8:17 AM ET

Philippine Volcano Spews Truck-Sized Boulders

By Erik de Castro

LEGAZPI, Philippines (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of villagers fled their homes as the Philippines' Mayon volcano unleashed a series of thunderous eruptions on Sunday.

Scientists said Mayon was spitting out flaming ash and boulders as big as trucks.

There were no casualties directly as a result of the eruptions, but one man trying to flee on a bicycle was knocked down and killed by a truck.

Witnesses said deafening booms rang out and giant cauliflower-shaped clouds of dust, ash and smoke shot up to six miles into the sky, darkening this provincial capital of 120,000 people as well as surrounding towns.

The blasts prompted the Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise the alert level around the volcano to a maximum five, meaning ``a hazardous eruption is in progress.''

Officials said about 23,000 villagers fled their homes as the series of explosions, which began on Saturday night, intensified on Sunday and shook villages as far as 12 km (eight miles) away.

``The rocks coming down are as big as trucks,'' vulcanologist Alex Baloloy said just before the first big blast at noon.

A more powerful blast two hours later showered villages with ash -- so-called black rain -- and sent mothers scurrying out of their homes clutching their babies in their arms.

``Leave, let us all leave,'' one mother cried as the mountain heaved and the ground under her shook.

Residents of the capital Legazpi, 7.5 miles from Mayon's summit, watched with fear and awe as the 8,000-foot-high mountain released its fury.

RIVERS OF FIRE

``I heard what seemed like a huge thunder and I saw dark clouds ... then more boom-boom sounds,'' local journalist Rhaydz Barcia said.

Moments later, fiery rocks and gas thundered down the volcano's slopes at speeds estimated at 60 mph.

Phivolcs chief Raymundo Punongbayan said the ``rivers of fire'' bore temperatures of 900 degrees Centigrade, hot enough to incinerate anything in their path.

The eruption might last one or two weeks, he said.

Army trucks and police cars sped out of Legazpi to threatened villages in a massive evacuation effort. Some villagers fled on carts driven by carabaos (water buffaloes).

In the panic, one woman collapsed with a heart attack while a pregnant mother prematurely gave birth, rescue officials said.

One villager fleeing on a bicycle was killed when a speeding van carrying rescue teams struck him, officials said. Another truck full of evacuees fell into a canal, injuring some of them.

In Daraga town, soldiers rushing to evacuate villagers ran into gunfire from communist rebels, triggering a 10-minute gunbattle. No-one was reported killed.

Priests tolled church bells and village chiefs sounded sirens to rouse sleeping residents and order them to flee.

In Matanag village, reporters saw parents shaking with terror as they hastily packed up their possessions while clusters of children, oblivious of danger, watched fountains of lava shooting up from the crater.

``It's just like Christmas,'' some of the children chanted.

Mayon, located in Albay province, 205 miles southeast of Manila and one of the Philippines' 22 active volcanoes, has a history of 45 violent eruptions since its first recorded blast in 1616. The deadliest occurred in 1814 when it buried a town under mud and rocks and killed 1,200 people.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

Mount Mayon: Restless giant in a volcanic land

June 24, 2001 Posted: 6:51 AM EDT (1051 GMT)

By CNN's Joe Havely

(CNN) -- Mount Mayon is the most volatile of more than 50 volcanoes -- 22 of which are considered active -- that are scattered across the Philippine archipelago.

An almost perfect cone-shape, Mayon last erupted in February 2000, forcing some 68,000 people to flee their homes.

Since 1616 when records began the 2,464 meter volcano has erupted at least 47 times.

Its most violent episode occurred in 1814 when more then 1,200 people were killed as an entire town was buried in mud and rocks.

Mayon's slopes, like many volcanoes in the country, are home to thousands of farming communities who make use of the fertile soils provided by the volcanic activity despite the occasional risk of eruption.

Over the centuries flows of mud and hot volcanic gases -- known pyroclastic flows -- from the volcano's eruptions have wreaked devastation on lowland population centers that surround Mount Mayon.

Powerful typhoons which hit the country on a regular basis add to the deadliness of Philippine volcanoes with heavy rains often turning fields of volcanic ash into raging mudflows.

Nonetheless, for most people who make their living from the mountain, the extraordinary fertility of the area is attractive for farming.

An estimated 560,000 people live within 15 kilometers of Mayon's summit. The largest township is Legazpi City with a population of around 120,000.

Ring of fire

The extent of volcanic activity in the Philippines is governed by the country's location at the meeting point of several of the earth tectonic plates -- massive fields of rock that form the surface of the Earth floating on top of molten magma beneath.

Situated in the western Pacific, the Philippines forms part of the Pacific rim's co-called 'ring of fire'.

Most volcanoes in the country are located on the eastern side of the archipelago where the oceanic Philippine Plate is sliding -- or subducting -- under the Asian Plate.

The most devastating eruption in recent Philippine history occurred in June 1991 when Mount Pinatubo, a volcano many thought to be extinct, suddenly and violently burst back into life.

Having been dormant for more than 400 years, the eruption sent more than 5 billion cubic meters of ash and other debris into the atmosphere.

The explosion -- the second most powerful volcanic eruption of the twentieth century -- and subsequent devastating mudflows killed at least 840 people and displaced more than a million.

In the days that followed, a series of explosions sent clouds of debris more than 20 km into the sky, blanketing towns in the area with layers of ash so thick that many buildings simply collapsed under the weight.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2001