A “moderately explosive eruption” occurred at the restive Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Island early morning yesterday, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), adding that it remains under Alert Level 3.
The five-minute eruption started at 2:55 a.m., generating a grayish voluminous plume that rose some 4.5 kilometers above the vent before drifting towards the southwest, Phivolcs said in a bulletin.
As this developed, the regional offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Negros Island were placed on high alert and personnel of the field office in Western Visayas on Tuesday revisited the evacuation centers to check on the condition of the evacuees.
DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokeswoman Irene Dumlaod said: “Immediate response, in any type of disaster or emergencies, is crucial. And this is even more needed by our Mt. Kanlaon evacuees who have been displaced for almost five months now. We have to assure them that we are looking after their needs.”
She said that before the eruption around 267,000 boxes of family food packs (FFPs) and P98 million worth of other food and non-food items (FNFIs) such as hygiene, sleeping and cooking kits had been prepositioned in the DSWD field offices in Western Visayas and Central Visayas.
“Incandescent pyroclastic density currents or PDCs descended the southern slopes within approximately two kilometers of the crater based on visual and thermal camera monitoring,” said Phivolcs.
“Large ballistic fragments were also observed to have been thrown around the crater within a few hundred meters and caused burning of vegetation near the volcano summit,” it added.
Philvols said thin ashfall was reported in Negros Occidental — Barangays Cubay, San Miguel, Yubo and Ara-al in La Carlota City; Barangays Ilijan and Binubuhan in Bago City; and Barangays Biak-na-Bato, Sag-ang, and Mansalanao in La Castellana town.
Reports said audible rumbling was reported in Barangay Pula in Canlaon City, and La Castellana, Negros Occidental while a thin ashfall was reported in various barangays Cubay, San Miguel, Yubo, and Ara-al all in of La Carlota City; barangays Ilijan and Binubuhan in Bago City; and barangays Biak-na-Bato, Sag-ang, and Mansalanao in La Castellana, all Negros Occidental.
Phivolcs said that Kanlaon Volcano will remain under Alert Level 3, which has been in effect since December 9 last year when it had an “explosive eruption.”
It said Alert Level 3 means the volcano “is in a state of magmatic unrest, with currently increased chances of short-lived moderately explosive eruptions that could generate life-threatening volcanic hazards.”
Based on a May 4 report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, some 22,680 families or 89,625 individuals have been affected by the restiveness of Kanlaon Volcano.
Of the number, 6,252 families or 20,020 individuals remain displaced, either staying at 21 evacuation centers or with their relatives and friends.
Dumlao said that the DSWD Disaster Response Management Bureau (DRMB) also completed last week a technical assistance training on the operation, management, and maintenance of the agency’s newly procured mobile kitchen, water tanker, and water treatment facilities.
The training was attended by Quick Response Teams (QRTs) from DSWD FO 6 and the Negros Island Region (NIR) and Regional Incidental Management Team (RIMT), including LGUs from La Castellana and La Carlota City, both of which are most severely impacted by the ongoing volcanic activity and currently managing evacuation centers sheltering internally displaced persons or IDPs.
The training was for the deployment of the mobile kitchens, water tanker, and water-treatment facilities which aims to provide Mt. Kanlaon evacuees with more stabilized provision of hot meals and potable water.
