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MANILA - "Crater glow" observed recently at Mount Mayon could be a precursor of eruptive activity, the country's chief volcanologist said Thursday.

Mayon's crater could have glowed in the last 2 days because magma or a charge of molten rocks rose towards its crater, said Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum.

Magma usually solidifies. However, it will glow if the volcano is about to have another eruptive activity, he said.

"Mayroon iyan pamumula ng bulkan o crater glow at minsan iyong crater niya, may pag-umbok na mapapansin bago magsimula ng panibagong eruptive activity," Solidum told radio DZMM.

(There is crater glow and its crater will sometimes swell before the start of a new eruptive volcano.)

"Inoobserbahan natin kung talagang mayroong bagong aktibidad ang volcano," he added.

(We are observing whether or not the volcano has a new activity.)

#MayonVolcano crater glow observed at the summit. Photos taken on 4 Feb 2020, 7:00 PM at the Mayon Volcano Observatory, Ligñon Hill, Legazpi City.

DOST-PHIVOLCS reiterates that Alert Level 2 currently prevails over #MayonVolcano because it is still at a moderate level of unrest. pic.twitter.com/iOcUmIbPmt

— PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) February 5, 2020

Mayon, a tourist attraction because of its near-perfect cone shape, displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing ash, rocks and lava in 2018.

The volcano is still under Alert 2 due to its "moderate level of unrest," which means entry is prohibited within its 6-kilometer radius, Phivolcs earlier said.

Mayon’s most destructive eruption was in February 1814, when lava buried a town and killed 1,200 people.

Phivolcs is also monitoring Taal Volcano, south of the capital, which spewed a giant ash column last Jan. 25, which authorities said sent tens of thousands to evacuation centers and damaged around P3.4 billion in agriculture and infrastructure. With a report from Reuters