40,000 flee erupting Philippines volcano
Pastor Dale Morgan
40,000 flee erupting Philippines volcano*
LEGASPI, Philippines, Aug 9 (AFP) Aug 09, 2006
Rescuers Wednesday raced the clock to get stragglers away from the
rumbling Philippine volcano Mayon, with nearly 40,000 people so far
fleeing the danger zone.
A two-day effort by the military and local government has seen 39,278
people safely evacuated from villages surrounding the scenic mountain,
the most active volcano in the Philippines, the provincial disaster
coordinating council said.
Relief agencies are bracing for a long stay in makeshift evacuation
centers, mainly converted schoolhouses.
"For the time being, food is not the problem," Legaspi city mayor Noel
Rosal said, but appealed for help from the national government.
"We can sustain this until the end of the week. The only problem here is
the problem of congested rooms. We might have to open new rooms so
epidemics won't occur."
School rooms are housing up to 30 evacuees who sleep on the floor and
are fed with tinned meat and instant noodles.
Local officials though are experienced in dealing with Mayon, which has
erupted around 50 times in the past 400 years, most recently in 1993
when 77 people died.
They said the main problem is to dissuade residents from returning to
their homes amid an apparent lull in the volcano's eruptive phase.
Farmers have been reluctant to abandon their crops and homes, sneaking
out of evacuation centers in the morning to work their farms and guard
their property.
The civil defense office in Manila said the military and the police have
now set up checkpoints on its lower slopes to enforce a "No Human
Activity" zone within eight kilometers (five miles) of the crater.
Their job has been complicated by communist guerrillas, who attacked an
infantry unit evacuating residents near Daraga town close to the slopes
of the rumbling mountain, the military said. Five soldiers were injured.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs)
meanwhile said that after an upsurge of activity on Monday, the
8,070-foot (2,460-meter) Mayon was quieter on Tuesday.
>From 109 volcanic quakes on Monday, only 21 were recorded on Tuesday.
The amount of sulphur dioxide expelled also fell by nearly half. It has
been quietly belching out lava since July 15.
However, the institute said such swings in activity were an anomaly and
warned that a hazardous eruption could still take place within days.
"Anything above 500 tonnes (of sulphur dioxide emissions) is an
indication" of volcanic unrest, said Ernesto Corpuz, head of the volcano
monitoring division.
Corpuz noted that despite lower readings of sulphur emissions, a column
of black, steaming lava was still oozing from the crater and snaking
down a channel on its slopes.
This indicates lava is still pushing out toward the crater, which has
been largely obscured by clouds since Monday.
The volcanic activity may have been lower on Tuesday, "but the overall
trend is going up," he said.
Corpuz added that it was unlikely the volcano would calm down and that
an more explosive eruption was on the cards within days.
Renato Solidum, head of the institute, said such swings in readings were
"typical of Mayon" and stressed that they would not lower the alert
level until they see about a week of lower volcanic activity.
"Given the history of Mayon, it should have exploded already," Solidum said.
The main danger is not the slow-moving lava that can be seen when the
clouds clear but the possibility of a swift avalanche of volcanic ash
that could sweep down the mountain at great speeds during an eruption.
President Gloria Arroyo has appealed to the public to be sensible and
ordered local officials to ensure a "zero-casualty" target is achieved.
As many as 70,000 people in the area might have to be evacuated,
depending on the force of the eruption, officials have said.