Mayon activity not as hazardous as Pinatubo eruption —PHIVOLCS

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) on Wednesday assured the public that the danger posed by Mayon Volcano's continuous activity, and any possible eruption, would not be as great as that of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption.

Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary and PHIVOLCS officer-in-charge Dr. Renato Solidum, Jr. said that Mount Pinatubo's eruption in 1991 involved a different composition of magma compared to that of Albay's cone-shaped volcano, which is less acidic.

Solidum said that the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, which killed at least 847 people and displaced nearly 250,000, was cataclysmic and is by far the most hazardous eruption in Philippine history.

"Mayon is less acidic... In volcanoes like Pinatubo, the magma is very viscous, it traps the gas within so 'pag na-trap yung gas, masyadong maraming gas, sumasambulat," he said.

"Ang Mayon hindi masyadong viscous, so nakaka-release ng gas, so hindi masyadong naiipon," he added.

Despite this, Solidum reminded that a possible explosive eruption was "not the only factor [to consider if] people are threatened" but the "type of activity and the nearness of people to the source of activity" as well.

"If people are too close to a volcano and even though the activity is small, maapektuhan sila," he said.

PHIVOLCS has so far recorded a total of 143 lava collapses and a tremor as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

"The lava collapse events corresponded to rockfall along the front and margins of advancing lava and pyroclastic flows downriver of Miisi, Matanag and Buyuan Gullies within the permanent danger zone," PHIVOLCS said.

It said that these events have generated ash cloud that drifted toward the southwest.

Alert Level 3 remains raised over Mayon which means that it is "currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days." — MDM, GMA News