THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Wednesday continued its recommendation to strictly keep the four-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) around Mount Kanlaon off-limits to the public.
“Strict prohibition from the four-kilometer radius PDZ is recommended at Alert Level 2 which means there is an increasing unrest,” Phivolcs director Teresito “Toto” Bacolcol told The Manila Times.
Phivolcs said concerned local government units would be responsible over their respective villages that were within Kanlaon’s PDZ in Negros Island.
Bacolcol was referring to the villages of Ara-al and Yubo, La Carlota City; Sag-ang, Mansalanao, Cabagnaan and Biaknabato, La Castellana; Minoyan, Murcia; Masolog, Pula and Lumapao, Canlaon City and; Codcod, San Carlos City.
“Local government units, disaster officials and the general public are urged to heed avoidance of the PDZ, as the chances of similar explosive eruptions occurring are significant, thus increasing the threat of volcanic hazards such as PDCs (pyroclastic density currents) and ballistic projectiles within the PDZ,” the Phivolcs chief said.
“Civil aviation officials should also warn aircraft from flying close to the volcano’s summit as sudden explosions can generate ash and rock fragments that can damage aircraft,” he added.
The Negros volcano occasionally exhibits phreatic and short-lived explosive eruptions that produce small-magnitude hazards, the agency said.
Of its 43 eruptions recorded since 1866, including the most recent, only the 1902 eruption was magmatic and associated with the generation of small-volume lava flows on its upper slopes, according to the Phivolcs’ records.
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