A volcano erupted in the Philippines on Monday, sending hot ash and gas up to three kilometers high, forcing residents to seek shelter. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the latest eruption of Mount Kanlaon on central Negros island, but authorities closed schools and imposed a nightly curfew after several villages were hit by ash that clouded visibility for motorists and raised health concerns.
“It was the sound of a cannon,” said Jose Chubasco Cardenas, mayor of the town of Canlaon, southeast of the volcano. Associated Press by telephone. “There was a quiet explosion before, but this one was huge.” Disaster-response officials raised the threat level around Kanlaon due to the “high risk of hazardous volcanic activity” and ordered the evacuation of villagers within a six-kilometer radius of the crater.
About 100 people fled to emergency shelters in Canlaon after the volcano erupted in mid-afternoon, Cardenas said. He said that the number of displaced people could reach more than 2,000 as the possibility of further explosions is strong.
The Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Philippines said the eruption caused a pyroclastic density flow – a superhot flow of ash, debris and rocks that could burn anything in its path.
The alert level around Kanlaon is at the third-highest of the five-stage warning system, saying “a magmatic eruption has begun which may progress to further explosive eruptions.” The 2,435-meter (7,988-foot) volcano, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes, last erupted in June and sent hundreds of villagers to emergency shelters.
Located on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the Philippines also experiences about 20 typhoons and typhoons a year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone.