Mount Kanlaon erupts, Phivolcs raises Alert Level 2
Mount Kanlaon erupted at 6:51 pm Monday, producing a five-kilometer high plume of sulfur and ash that lasted for six minutes.
Rumbling sounds from the eruption were heard in La Castellana and La Carlota City in Negros Occidental while coarse ashfall fell in some areas, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a report.
This forced Phivolcs to raise Alert Level 2 over Mount Kanlaon at 8 pm due to the eruption, which it described as ''moderately explosive.'' Phivolcs said the eruption was followed by a “relatively strong” volcano-tectonic earthquake.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured all the residents affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption of the government’s immediate provision of assistance. Sleeping kits were given to residents of La Castellana, which is is near Mount Kanlaon while food packs were prepositioned in Negros Island, said Marcos in a video message.
Almost 800 people were displaced due to Kanlaon Volcano’s eruption, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Tuesday.
Flights from Manila to areas affected by the eruption were canceled.
In a bulletin, the NDRRMC said that 796 individuals or 170 families from Western Visayas and Central Visayas were affected by the eruption.
Of this number, 685 people or 149 families were served inside of evacuation centers while 111 individuals or 21 families were served outside.
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Authority (NAIA) said that as of 1:40 pm Tuesday, around 16 flights were canceled.
Phivolcs said Kanlaon has been exhibiting above background earthquake activity for the past month. DMS- Jaspearl Tan
