ANKARA: At least 30 villages near the Philippines' restive Mayon Volcano need to be permanently evacuated.
After recently placing the 2,463-metre volcano in central Albay province on alert level three, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Sunday called for the "permanent" evacuation of the villages located within Mayon's permanent danger zone, a 6-kilometre radius, Anadolu Agency cited a local English daily, the Manila Times.
The institute said it made the decision due to the increased risk of "hazardous eruption," stressing that local officials must ensure the affected villagers are evacuated to safer areas.
Citing the institute's director, Teresito Bacolcol, the newspaper said authorities were considering extending the permanent danger zone to 8 kilometres so more people would be evacuated.
SPONSORED CONTENT Shell’s Access to Energy helps power lives of isolated communities in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: In 2017, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (SSPC) launched Access to Energy (A2E), a Shell Social Investment programme aimed at providing affordable and continuous supply of electricity from renewable sources for communities who live without connection to the electricity grid. Read more The plan will be enforced if the institute raises Mayon's alert level to four, on a scale of five, which Bacolcol said could happen given the continued rise in the number and volume of rock-fall events in the last few days.
He said sulfur dioxide emissions had also increased beyond baseline levels to 1,205 tonnes per day.
He also warned that even under level four, a hazardous eruption could be expected.
Albay is located on the eastern coast of the Philippines, facing the Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
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