Philippines Mayon volcano about to erupt

21 December, 2009

AS THE Mayon Volcano in Philippines continues to rumble, preparing to emit lava, 3000 villagers, who had earlier refused to move from their homes around the volcano, will be evacuated forcibily according to officials on Monday, December 21. The Mayon volcano is located about 330 kilometres from the capital city Manila and is one of the most active volcanoes in the country.

The people around the volcano do not just face the danger of being obilitrated by the hot lava from the Mayon volcano - they can also suffocate from the ash explosion! According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology the eruption from the volcano would be a level four, that is, one possible within hours or days and had therefore, issued the immediate evacuation warning.

"We will physically remove the residents who refuse to evacuate to their designated evacuation centres," Albay provincial Governor Joey Salceda said after volcanologists raised the alert level to four on a five-point scale.

An estimated 729 families are still refusing to move from the edge of the eight kilometre danger zone radius, according to the local disaster preparations chief Cedric Daep. On the other hand, 9,200 families or nearly 44,400 people have already moved to evacuation centres since the Mayon volcano became active last week.

It is speculated that most of these people who refuse to move are villagers who undertake farming activities in the fertile region left after Mayon's lava spreads over the region. They have livestock in the region who they do not wish to leave behind. The provincial governor Joey Salcaeda has ordered that these should be moved to a government agriculture station, so as to encourage those worried about their livestock to evacuate.

The 2,460 metre Mayon volcano has erupted 48 times in history, the worst of which was in 1814, when 1200 people of the nearby Cagsawa town were caught in the wake of lava which buried the town.