Manila, Philippines – A real Philippin volcano briefly broke out on Tuesday on a central island, sending a panache of ash and 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) in the sky and forcing the authorities to suspend school lessons in four villages due to the fall of ASH, officials said.
There was no report of injuries or damage caused by the last eruption of Mount Kanlaon after dawn which lasted more than an hour and dispersed ashes in at least four agricultural villages in the southwest of the volcano on the island of Negros, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Kanlaon broke out for the last time in December, which prompted the evacuation of thousands of villagers, many of whom remained in emergency shelters on Tuesday while the volcano continued to show signs of responsiveness, said the Civil Defense Office.
The Chief Volcanologist of the Philippines, Teresito Bacolcol, told the Associated Press that there was no other key sign of responsiveness, like a peak in volcanic earthquakes, which would encourage the alert on Kanlaon to be high of the current level 3, which means a “high level of volcanic disorders”. The highest alert, level 5 means that “dangerous eruption is underway”.
“The possibility of a greater eruption is still there,” said Bacolcol, urging people to remain vigilant and stay away from a danger area of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) around Kanlaon.
The 2,435 -meter (7,988 feet) volcano is one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes. In 1996, three hikers were killed near the summit and several others were then rescued when Kanlaon broke out without warning, officials said.
The Philippines are located in the so-called “Ring of Fire” of the Pacific, a region subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The archipelago is also tired of around 20 typhoons and storms per year, making it one of the most subject to disasters in the world.
