Philippine Volcano is Getting Unruly, Thousands Flee

The Philippines' most active volcano is in the midst of a "gentle eruption," giving officials ample time to heighten warnings, extend danger zones, and encourage affected citizens to flee for their lives before the real eruption begins.

Increased volcanic activity was detected below Mount Mayon on Monday morning, prompting the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) to raise alert levels twice by 10 pm.

The volcano, which has been seen rockfall, noticeable seismic activity, and rising magma levels since 5 am, is not at Alert Level 3.

"This means that Mayon is exhibiting relatively high unrest and that magma is at the crater and that hazardous eruption is possible within weeks," PHIVOLCS experts stated last night. "It is therefore recommended that the 6-km radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) around the volcano and the 7-km Extended Danger Zone (EDZ) on the southeastern flank be enforced due to the danger of rockfalls, landslides and sudden explosions or dome collapse that may generate hazardous volcanic flows."

Mayon is considered an iconic volcano, even if you don't recognize its name, because images of it are everywhere. This 8,000-foot-tall, fiery mountain is the perfect volcano model with its near-perfectly shaped cone - a live version of a perfectionist's 3rd grade science fair project.

And now that project is being lit up, with its crater glowing with hot lava just now gradually making its way down the side of the mountain.

"It's already erupting, but not explosive," Renato Solidum, who heads the government volcano monitoring agency, told the Associated Press (AP). "Currently, the activity is just lava coming down. If there is an explosion, all sides of the volcano are threatened."

An estimated 12,000 villagers around the volcano's crater have been asked to evacuate, with anyone within four miles of the crater (the PDZ) facing a mandatory evacuation that is being enforced with military and public safety officers.

Mayon has seen a lot of similar activity in the past, erupting eight times since 1968. However, the worst was a memorable eruption in 1814 that was fast and deadly, resulting in 1,200 casualties. This tragedy's anniversary was just last June.

"We are praying that it would not be the worst-case scenario," Mayor Herbie Aguas of Santo Domingo told the AP.

Four-thousand of his own citizens have already started to leave for safer areas, but they hope to return home once things settle down.