Filipinos Evacuate as Volcano Erupts

After rumbling for five months, one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes erupted Sunday in fountains of bright red lava and towering clouds of ash as car-sized boulders tumbled down its slopes.

One massive explosion from the Mayon volcano spewed ash more than nine miles high, with continuous columns of nearly 2,000 feet, officials said. Visibility dropped to near zero within hours as the enormous mushroom cloud began to settle, turning the landscape gray.

About 35,000 villagers were evacuated overnight, but many returned this morning despite warnings from the government, civil defense authorities said. Area airports were closed today due to low visibility and the danger of flying ash and rocks.

“I left because it was making strong noises,” said Lorna Azona, who was among hundreds of villagers at an evacuation center in Legazpi. “The lava flow was getting strong.”

Depending on the lava flow, as many as 60,000 could be forced to evacuate to Legazpi, said Jason Aragon, a civil defense officer in charge of the evacuation. A woman died of a heart attack during the evacuation but no other injuries were reported, he said.

With the threat of rain remaining in the wake of a tropical storm, concerns rose over the possibility of flows of mud and ash like those that buried a town and killed 1,200 people in 1814 in the volcano’s worst known eruption.

The southeastern portion of the crater showed visible signs of weakening Sunday and could give way within days, spilling more lava down the volcano slopes, scientists said.

Eduardo Laguerta, a volcanologist, said a lava dome about 100 feet wide had formed on the crater. Collapsed domes have continuously been expelling rocks and pyroclastic flows--superheated plumes of volcanic ash that travel down a volcano’s slopes at up to 50 mph--which instantly incinerate anything in their path.

Explosions shook the ground more than eight miles away as officials were preparing emergency shelters and evacuation plans, said emergency coordinator Cedric Dive.

The 8,077-foot Mayon, a well-known tourist attraction, had been at alert level 3--out of a possible 5--for weeks. After the volcano unleashed a brief 160-foot fountain of lava late Saturday, authorities raised the alert to 4, then quickly put it at 5 early Sunday afternoon, meaning an eruption was in progress.

The volcano could spit lava and red-hot boulders for weeks, said Raymundo Punongbayan, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.