Volcano faces 'imminent eruption'
2006-08-07 09:21
Legaspi - Tens of thousands of people were being moved out of their homes in the central Philippines on Monday in the face of an "imminent" eruption of the rumbling Mayon volcano, officials said.
With 80 military trucks doing the heavy lifting, the government expected to move 34 276 people to 31 state-run shelters by noon, defence secretary Avelino Cruz told a news conference in Manila.
"The evacuation is ongoing. It has been going smoothly," said Cruz, concurrent chairperson of the civil defence office.
60 000 threatened
Volcanologists previously said an explosive eruption by Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes, could threaten the lives of about 60 000 people.
In Legaspi, city mayor Noel Rosal personally supervised the evacuation of 10 500 residents from four villages on Mayon's lower slopes.
Warning
"We are just waiting for them to gather some of their things before we take them to the major evacuation centres," he said, while admitting: "Some are reluctant to leave."
The mayor said the mild lava eruption last month "gave us ample lead time to prepare the evacuation centres", mostly schools and other government buildings beyond the volcano danger zone.
They were stocked with food and sleeping facilities while tap water and electricity connections were provided.
Five volcanic blasts
Mayon's environs were rocked early on Monday by five successive volcanic blasts within 40 minutes, followed by a fountain of lava from Mayon's crater, Rosal said on local radio.
By mid-morning the peak was covered in a dark cloud of volcanic material rising several kilometres above the crater. Television footage showed superheated lava tumbling down the slopes, setting the plant cover on fire.
Alert raised
The government's seismology institute on Monday raised a five-step volcano alert over Mayon at the next-highest level of 4, meaning an eruption could occur within days.
"This means that Mayon is ready to burst," said the institute's director Renato Solidum.
Materials thrown from the crater of the 2 460-metre mountain could threaten anyone within an eight-kilometre radius, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in an advisory.
Mayon has had 47 eruptions in recorded history, the latest being a mild outpouring of lava in June 2001.