Albay under state of calamity due to restive Mayon

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 9) — The local government of Albay has placed the province under a state of calamity due to Mayon Volcano's increasing activity, the Albay Provincial Information Office said Friday afternoon.

The Albay PIO said a state of calamity was declared through the provincial government's Resolution No. 0607-2023.

Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday morning, Gov. Edcel Greco Lagman said that the state of calamity would allow the local government to tap quick response funds to be able to provide support to affected residents.

On Thursday noon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised the alert status of Mayon Volcano to Level 3, meaning the volcano is currently at an increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption and potential explosive activity that can occur within weeks or even days.

Provincial disaster management officials have started preemptive evacuation of residents inside the 6-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone.

Lagman said on Friday morning around 3,000 residents from Camalig and Guinobatan have been evacuated. Those areas are the most vulnerable to the volcanic activity, he noted.

By evening, the Office of Civil Defense-Bicol reported that another 1,971 individuals had been evacuated. 490 people were from Camalig town, 196 hailed from Ligao town, and 1,285 residents of Daraga town.

Other areas affected are Legazpi, Tabaco, Ligao, Santo Domingo, Malilipot, Bacacay, and Daraga, he added.

Over 18,000 locals are eyed to be moved from their homes and into 115 identified evacuation centers.

Camalig Public Information Officer Tim Florece told CNN Philippines' Traffic Center that around 400 residents have been moved to safer grounds.

Local authorities target to evacuate some 1,400 families by Friday night or by Saturday, he added.

Florece appealed for cooperation and said they are also mobilizing police officers to maintain law and order.

In its previous report, Phivolcs said it recorded 199 rockfall events and six pyroclastic density currents on the volcano from 5 a.m. on Thursday to 5 a.m. on Friday.

At about 7 p.m. on Friday, seismologists detected another 28 “relatively smaller rockfall events.”

Meanwhile, no volcanic earthquakes have been recorded.

Pyroclastic density currents are mixtures of fragmented volcanic particles, hot gases, and ash that rush down the volcanic slopes or rapidly outward from a source vent at high speeds, state volcanologists explained.

Mayon also emitted plumes that reached 800 meters tall, Phivolcs said. The volcano edifice is also inflated, it added.

Lagman said residents have been reporting ashfall occurrences.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also told reporters on Thursday that the national government is ready for a possible eruption of the volcano.

CNN Philippines correspondent Tristan Nodalo contributed reporting from Albay.