THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lowered on Tuesday, March 6, the alert level around Mayon Volcano to 3, which means a “decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption.” However, the agency warned the public that “sudden explosions, lava collapses… and ashfall can still occur and threaten areas in the upper to middle slopes” of the volcano.

Phivolcs has also recommended that a 7-kilometer (km) no-go zone be maintained, particularly in the south-southwest to east-northeast sector, stretching from Anoling, Camalig to Sta. Misericordia, Sto. Domingo. The 6-km radius around the active volcano is declared a permanent danger zone. The previous alert level 4, meaning a hazardous eruption is imminent, was raised last Jan. 22. Phivolcs said in its bulletin yesterday that Mayon’s condition in the past week “has been characterized by a general decline in unrest,” adding that, “should there be a persistent downtrend in monitoring parameters, then the alert level will be further lowered to alert level 2.”

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