RP volcano threat downgraded

RP volcano threat downgraded

MANILA (AP): Scientists downgraded a state of alert around a central Philippine volcano on Friday after lava flows halted and the danger of another eruption subsided.

Earth tremors and gas emissions from the Mayon volcano, which erupted last month and forced as many as 50,000 people to evacuate the area, had dropped sharply, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The institute downgraded alert levels around the volcano from four to three, which allows life to return to normal around Mayon. Alert level five is the highest, indicating an ongoing eruption.

"In another week, we will decide if we can put the alert level down again," said volcanologist Juan Cordon Jr. Most evacuees have already returned to their homes and farms in the rich soil around Mayon, in the central Philippine province of Albay, authorities said.