THE PHILIPPINES’ chief volcanologist warned on Monday of a possible hazardous eruption at Mount Mayon “within weeks or even within days,” as magma continued to pile up at the summit of the country’s most active volcano. The 2,462-meter (8,077-foot) high volcano, a tourist attraction in central Albay province because of its near-perfect cone shape, spewed ash and burning mud and rocks over the past two days, forcing more than 3,000 residents to evacuate from nearby villages. It showed a bright crater glow on Sunday, signifying lava had started to flow from the crater. Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), described Mayon’s current activity as a non-explosive magmatic eruption, but he would not rule out a more dangerous volcanic explosion in coming days. Phivolcs raised the volcano alert to level 3 late on Sunday after detecting the lava flow. Mr. Solidum said raising the alert to level 4, under which the danger zone would be expanded and a hazardous eruption could happen within a few days, depended on how Mayon behaved next. Level 5 indicates an eruption is in progress. — Reuters

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