RESTIVE VOLCANO

Mayon’s lava flow threatens villages

Inquirer
Last updated 03:46am (Mla time) 08/03/2006
Published on page A2 of the August 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

LEGAZPI CITY -- Mayon Volcano’s main lava flow along the Mabinit channel was barely 100 aerial meters away from the six-kilometer permanent danger zone boundary yesterday, posing a fire hazard to crops and vegetation in the villages of Mabinit and Bonga, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

The front of the main lava trail, which on closer view is almost as tall as a four-story building, was reported to be 5.9 aerial kilometers from the crater now, or almost two kilometers farther than that of the 2001 eruption.

“Areas that will be engulfed by the lava flow will be barren for quite a long time and cannot be tilled by farmers because the lava will harden into rocks. It is unavoidable that there will be a devastation of some existing vegetation at the volcano’s slopes and foot,” said Alex Baloloy, a research analyst at Phivolcs-Legazpi.
(Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon)

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