Nearly 200,000 people in 124 villages in the northeastern part of the country were affected and over 5,400 fled massive plumes of ash that billowed from Mayon volcano over the weekend due to the collapse of lava deposits from its slopes, officials said.
There was no explosive eruption from Mayon, which has been erupting mildly on and off since January, but huge deposits of lava on its southwestern slope suddenly cascaded down in a pyroclastic flow – an avalanche of hot rocks, ash and gas – before nightfall on Saturday, said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
No deaths or injuries were reported, but massive clouds of ash scattered over 120 villages, mostly in Albay province, catching many by surprise and slowing down motorists due to poor visibility, officials said.
“The ashfall was just so thick and there was zero visibility even in our national road,” Mayor Caloy Baldo of Camalig town, which lies near the volcano’s foothills, said.
“Some villagers panicked but we advised them to calm down,” said Baldo.
Vegetable farms were damaged by the ashfall, which also killed four water buffaloes and a cow in Camalig, Baldo said, adding that a cleanup was underway in his town of 8,000 people in Albay province.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said at least 199,367 people in 124 villages were affected by the dark clouds of ash that drifted far from the volcano, including more than 5,450 residents who fled to emergency shelters in Camalig and Malilipot towns and the cities of Ligao and Tabaco. — AP
