Philippines Speeding Volcano Relief Efforts Amid Mudslide Fears : Disaster: An area within a 7.4-mile radius is reported ‘obliterated.’ Heavy rain falls on mountain slopes.

Hard-pressed Philippine officials stepped up rescue and relief efforts Wednesday amid growing fears of disastrous mudslides from millions of tons of rocks and ash that rained down during last weekend’s devastating eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.

Scientists estimate that the massive eruption pumped out substantially more ash and rock than did Mt. St. Helens’ explosion 11 years ago in Washington state, dropping unstable volcanic debris more than 1,000 feet thick on parts of the volcano’s steep slopes. Heavy rain drenched the area Wednesday in the beginning of the annual monsoon season.

“Mixed with rain, mixed with water, it becomes a liquid concrete river,” said a Western diplomat who is monitoring the crisis. “That’s our chief concern right now.”

Aerial surveys indicated that the eruption “completely obliterated” an area up to 7.4 miles from the volcano, with considerable damage within a 12-mile radius, he said.

Most of the debris came from a huge dome of magma that built up on the mountain’s summit after it burst into life June 9 after lying dormant for more than 600 years. The dome is now a deep crater more than a mile long. While still active, the volcano has calmed steadily since Sunday, and thousands of people have returned to the area.

Avalanches caused by volcanic eruptions often are more deadly than the explosions. In 1985, giant mudslides that roared down a river valley after the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in western Colombia killed more than 23,000 people.

The magnitude of the disaster grew Wednesday as the death toll rose to 169, with an estimated quarter-million people made homeless. The heavy ash crushed thousands of homes and buildings, washed away bridges and roads and buried vast sugar cane and rice fields under thick, wet sand. Economic losses are believed to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Manila’s international airport remained closed to incoming flights for the fourth day as heavy winds kicked swirling clouds of ash in the air. Hundreds of volunteers were using giant vacuums and hand brooms to sweep the runways, but Philippine Transportation Secretary Pete Prado said the airport is not likely to open until Saturday.

“It is a very difficult and tedious job,” he said.

Four international flights stranded since Saturday managed to leave Manila. One, a Saudi Arabian airliner, developed engine trouble from volcanic ash in the air and was forced to return, aviation officials said.

Stepping up its relief efforts, the government distributed sandwiches and other supplies to evacuees and began to clear hundreds of miles of ash-clogged roads. Volunteer groups and local officials appeared the most active, however, feeding and sheltering 205,000 evacuees in about 385 schools and churches. Tens of thousands of others are believed staying with friends and families.

Criticism of the response by President Corazon Aquino’s government to the emergency intensified. Many evacuees complained that the government had given them little warning of the volcano’s destructive power and little help since they were forced to flee.

“I have no money to buy food for my family,” said vegetable vendor Wilfredo Augostine as he searched for his brother among 3,000 refugees camped out on cardboard sheets and newspapers on concrete steps at the Amoranto Sports Stadium in Quezon City, a Manila suburb.

Nearby, volunteer worker Roland Reyes sobbed as he complained of government inaction. “I’m mad about this circus show and everyone saying everything is under control,” he said, tears streaming down his face.

In a statement, Aquino defended the relief efforts but acknowledged that they “will sometimes not be adequate and that some of the victims may not be reached immediately.”

In Olongapo, the hardest-hit major city, Mayor Richard Gordon complained that U.S. Navy officials at the neighboring Subic Bay Naval Base have ignored his city’s plight as they focused on evacuating 20,000 military dependents and other civilians by this Saturday. A Marine task force led by the amphibious assault ship Peleliu carried another 3,000 Americans from the crippled base Wednesday.

“This is the first time the Americans have not really helped,” Gordon said. “Sure, they gave us a couple of tanks of water and a couple of rolls of bubble wrap to give to evacuees. But they have not even called to ask how are we doing.”

Betty Fielder, a Subic spokeswoman, said the base had not received a request for help from Gordon. “Anyway, we’re immobilized here,” she said. “We can’t even get trucks out to assist them.”

Another spokesman, Jerry Moore, said that up to 500 sailors from the Cape Cod, a destroyer tender, are ready to aid relief efforts in Olongapo. None had left the ship by late Wednesday, however, he said.

The United States is shipping 1 million MREs--meals, ready to eat, the foil-wrapped field rations left over from the Persian Gulf War--for volcano victims here. The United Nations, Canada and Japan also have donated food, cash, tents and medicine.

The widespread destruction is a severe setback to an economy still struggling to recover from higher oil prices, lost remittances and a sharp drop in industrial production during the Persian Gulf crisis.

Business leaders say they fear that the latest disaster, after a year that saw a major earthquake, floods, typhoons and a wave of terrorist bombings, will further frighten foreign investors needed to fuel economic growth.

The Philippines’ gross national product posted an insignificant 0.2% growth during this year’s first quarter, although officials had predicted a rebound by the year’s end. Recovery may falter, however, because of the extensive damage to infrastructure and crops.

Destructive Power of a Volcano

Here are some of the natural occurrences that can be sparked by a volcanic eruption:

MUDSLIDES

Develop when bare slopes covered with loose ash are drenched with rain. The mud slides down the slope, damaging buildings and fields. Because they can cover greater areas, mudslides can be more destructive than lave flows.

ASH

May kill vegetation, injure animals and collapse roofs. For humans, ash may cause throat problems, difficulty breathing or suffocation.

TOXIC GASES

Escape during an eruption and can cause throat problems or illness.

PROJECTILES

Rocks and pieces of pumice thrown from a volcano can damage property and injure people and animals.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey