MANILA — Mayon Volcano will remain under Alert Level 3 despite the lava flow activity recently recorded, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Monday.

Phivolcs called this "effusive eruption" as less violent which possibly could not lead to any explosive eruption anytime.

“Iyong effusive eruption po involves slow release of magma onto the edifice of the volcano. And usually, iyong lava coming from an effusive eruption medyo low in gas and it will just flow on from the volcano. So, the lava flows are typically slow-moving and can be observed as a river of molten rocks,” Phivolcs office-in-charge Dr. Teresito Bacolcol said in a public briefing.

“Hindi pa po natin puwedeng itaas ang alert level. May mga parameters pa po tayong tinitingnan, katulad ng, again, pag-increase or sudden decrease of sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas. Tinitingnan din natin iyong pagtaas ng seismic activity ngayon. At from yesterday until this morning, mayroon tayong 21 volcanic earthquakes, medyo tumaas nang kaunti, but then mahina lamang ang mga ito and iyong seismic energy na ni-release ay halos nasa background level lamang," he added.

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"And hinihintay din natin iyon, kapag tumaas o nagkaroon ng pamamaga o tinatawag nating inflation doon sa volcanic edifice. So far ang nakikita lang natin would be iyong inflation sa upper part o upper slope."

Aside from Mayon, Phivolcs is also continuously monitoring the Taal Volcano in Batangas and Kanlaon Volcano in Negros island, both are currently in Alert Level 1.

“We also observed 1,200 meters steaming activity, again, kahapon. And iyong SO2 or sulfur dioxide measurement natin, average 6,884 tons per day which is slightly higher than the 6,304 tons per day that we measured on June 10. Pero mas mababa pa rin ito kaysa last week, nakapagtala po tayo ng around 9,000 tons per day of sulfur dioxide dito sa Taal Volcano,” Bacolcol said.

“And sa Kanlaon po naman, we are able to—since yesterday, we recorded two volcanic quakes. We also observed steaming na umabot po ng 200 meters high. And iyong as far as the sulfur dioxide is concerned, nakapagtala po kami noong June 5 ng 1,089 tons per day,” he added.

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Phivolcs clarified that the activities of these three volcanoes, while happening simultaneously, are not at all related.

“Coincidence lang po ito. Isolated po ang activity ng Kanlaon, ng Taal at saka Mayon. It just so happens na nagkasabay lang sila ngayon. Now, we have 24 active volcanoes, so there is always this possibility na magkasabay silang maging restive o maging restless. Iyon, again, there’s always this possibility that they will become restless simultaneously,” he said.

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Video courtesy of PTV