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SORSOGON’s Mount Bulusan erupted on Tuesday,
raining ash on two towns, but there were no reports of casualties,
volcanologists said.
No immediate evacuation of nearby
communities was necessary unless the apparently short-term eruption
of Bulusan volcano worsens, Julio Sabit of the Philippine Institute
of Volcanology and Seismology told AFP.
Asked if there is a possibility
of a big explosion, Ed Laguerta, Phivolcs resident volcanologist in
Bicol, told The Manila Times that there is indeed a possibility.
“We’re closely watching the activity of Mount Bulusan because a
major eruption is not remote,” he said.
Orlando Guardacasa, Phivolcs
science research specialist in Sorsogon, told The Times that the
ashfall affected the villages of Cogon, Gulang-Gulang, Bolos, Monbon
and Gabao in Irosin and at Putting Sapa, Sankayon and Buraburan in
Juban towns.
“This is the 25th explosion
recorded this year,” he said.
Located in the southeastern tip
of the main island of Luzon, the 1,559-meter (5,145-foot) Bulusan
erupted at about 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) with a burst of ash that shot
up six kilometers (3.7 miles) above the crater, Sabit said.
The column drifted west toward
the towns of Juban and Irosin. Government volcanologists were going
to the site to evaluate the scale of the volcanic activity, he
added.
“The eruption is nearly over
although there could be more to follow based on previous
activity,” Sabit said. “People’s lives are not in danger as of
the moment and no evacuations have been ordered.”
However, if the eruption persists
several villages near the lower slopes could be under threat from
volcanic ash carried down by rivers and streams, he added.
Bulusan is one of the
Philippines’ 22 active volcanoes. It is known to have erupted 16
times previously, the last one in early 2006.
Human settlements are banned
within four kilometers (2.5 miles) of the crater. 
AFP and Manila Times
correspondent Rhaydz Barcia
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