Herald-Sun

Philippine Volcano Explodes; No Lava By ADAM BROWN : Associated Press Writer Jun 29, 2001 : 6:12 am ET

BONGA, Philippines (AP) -- The Mayon volcano exploded twice within an hour Friday, sending hot gas, rock fragments and ash -- but no lava -- down the slopes in its most ominous activity in days.

The so-called pyroclastic flows can move at up to 60 mph at temperatures of up to 1,292 degrees, volcanologist Ed Villacorte said.

But the flows from Friday's explosion apparently stopped at the base of the volcano, and no damage was immediately reported in nearby villages where residents have been trying to resume normal lives.

Villacorte said the explosion, deep within Mayon, could be an isolated incident. But he warned that the massive volcano's last such blast occurred just before the eruption Sunday that forced the evacuation of 41,000 people from 18 villages in a designated danger zone.

"The indicators are still well above normal and eruption is still a real threat," he said.

Experts said it was possible the two late-afternoon explosions were part of an isolated bit of volcanic activity. There were three small internal explosions Wednesday, none powerful enough to cause any pyroclastic flows.

Earlier in the village of Bonga, all appeared quiet Friday, with laundry hanging outside huts.

"We feel safe now," said Alfred Eton, 33, who sells canned goods, soap and other items from his home less than a few miles from the volcano. "But not enough for the women and children to stay here at night."

Zelda Apuyan, 29, was among those returning to the village only by day before going back to sleep each night in makeshift shelters outside the danger zone in the city of Legazpi.

"Mayon has been quiet, but we are always afraid," Apuyan said, adding that she hopes to return home permanently by next week.

Even if there is no new eruption, scientists are worried that heavy rains soaking large ash deposits could trigger steaming mudslides.

The six-month rainy season has just begun, and the water is swelling new ash deposits into steaming batches of mud perched precariously on the mountainside above several small settled areas, Villacorte said.

Bonga is close but not the most threatened of 18 villages within the volcano's 5-mile danger zone, where residents have been coming back to tend their fields, feed water buffalos and check on their belongings.

The volcano has coughed up 177 million cubic feet of ash and dry rock fragments in the past six days, Villacorte said. Most of it has settled on the volcano and could fall over the coming days or months, he said.

Mayon's eruption blew ash clouds 15 kilometers more than 9 miles high and hurled boulders 2,000 feet into the air.

A well-known tourist attraction because of its near-perfect conical shape, Mayon has erupted at least 47 times since 1616. An ash mud flow buried a town and killed 1,200 people in the worst-known eruption in 1814.

-- Anonymous, June 30, 2001

Answers

Are they sure it wasn't a gel candle exploding a toilet?

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001