Ashfall has blanketed several barangays in Bago City and reached parts of Bacolod City following a moderately explosive eruption of Kanlaon Volcano last night, according to local authorities and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
The eruption occurred at 8:05 PM on Friday, October 24, and lasted three minutes, generating a towering plume that rose 2,000 meters above the vent before drifting northwest.
Impact in Bago and Bacolod
Houses in Barangay Mailum, Bago City were reported covered in ashfall. The Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) also confirmed ashfall and a sulfuric smell in other barangays, including Ma-ao, Ilijan, Bacong, and Abuanan.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya confirmed that ashfall was reported in the city’s coastal barangays of Sum-ag and Punta Taytay (PTA), citing reports from the Bacolod CDRRMO. Ashfall was also reported in La Carlota City and Pontevedra town.
In its 2:40 AM bulletin today, October 25, PHIVOLCS maintained Alert Level 2 (moderate level of unrest) over Kanlaon Volcano.
The agency noted that the eruption generated a shock wave heard as a booming sound within a six-kilometer radius, and incandescent pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) descended the southern slopes in La Castellana’s jurisdiction within a kilometer of the crater.
PHIVOLCS warned that similar short-lived explosive eruptions could follow, producing dangerous volcanic hazards within the 4-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ), dispersing ash to the general west of the volcano, and generating material that could feed lahars.
Safety Recommendations
PHIVOLCS strongly recommends that:
- Communities within the PDZ remain evacuated.
- Local government units continue preparation for subsequent evacuation in case unrest escalates.
- Communities on the southern slopes remain vigilant against potential hot lahars and sediment-laden streamflows from intense rains eroding newly-deposited ash.
- Pilots avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit due to the hazards of ash and ballistic fragments.
