Philippines authorities on Tuesday ordered people living close to a powerful volcano to evacuate, warning a dangerous eruption may occur within weeks.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level to “critical” for Mount Mayon in eastern Albay province late on Monday after recording an escalation of unrest over a 15-hour period, including 39 incidents of hot rocks falling in the summit area and 32 low-frequency volcanic earthquakes.
Magma has reached the crater of the volcano, in a coastal and farming area 330km southeast of Manila, according to the director of the state volcanology agency, Renato Solidum.
“A hazardous eruption is possible within weeks,” Solidum said.
The volcanalogy agency raised the danger alert for Mayon to three, on a five-level scale. Level three means there is “relatively high unrest”, and five means an eruption is occurring.
Local officials were meeting on Tuesday to discuss their response to a possible eruption, Alejandro said.