Scientists warn of more Mount Mayon eruptions

Scientists warn of more Mount Mayon eruptions

LEGASPI, Philippines (AFP): About 43,000 people fled the Philippines' rumbling Mayon volcano on Friday amid signs that it could explode for the second day running, officials said.

The evacuees were packed in some 28 schoolhouses converted into camps, with officials pleading for donations as supplies were expected to last only for a week.

Scientists said superheated lava, volcanic mud and rocks had crept to about 3.5 kilometers from Mayon's summit since Thursday, when it began erupting.

The flow was not, however, expected to breach a six-kilometer radius danger zone around the 2,462-meter Mayon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

"Phivolcs expects more explosive activity in the following days," it said and warned people against entering the danger area.

The volcano erupted three times on Thursday, hurling sulfuric ash and rocks some 13 kilometers into the air and triggering deadly flows of molten debris.

Disaster officials were placed on alert following warnings from weather forecasters of "moderate to heavy rains", that could mix with debris to create deadly flows of volcanic mud.

Phivolcs volcanologist Ed Laguerta said "explosions ceased since yesterday. What we are seeing right now is just the flowing of the lava."

He said no agricultural communities were in danger of being buried by lava, which he said would most likely flow into natural gullies and channels on the slopes of Mayon, about 325 kilometers southeast of Manila in Albay province.

Army trucks on Friday continued to ferry villagers fleeing their homes.

Disaster officials said they would only accommodate evacuees coming from areas directly threatened by Mayon as cramped evacuation camps were slowly being filled to capacity.

President Gloria Arroyo said she was pleased with the pace of relief work, and said there was no need for her to get directly involved. Provincial officials "are doing their job very well.

"The less we meddle with them the better," Arroyo said. Provincial disaster chief Cedric Daep said they were slowly running out of funds.

Provincial spokesmen say supplies had been drained by relief operations following Mayon's earlier eruptions last month.

Around 46,000 people were evacuated from around Mayon in late June amid a similar period of volcanic activity. Arturo Baria, 64, initially fled his farm in Tabaco town after the first explosion before dawn on Thursday.

But ignoring warnings, he left his children at an evacuation center to return to his farm with his wife to salvage the family's crops and tend to their livestock.

"I am afraid to lose my livestock. I have a water buffalo and a cow. I can't afford to leave them," he said as he harvested tomatoes and stringbeans from the fertile volcanic soil around Mayon.

In many cases, farmers take their families to evacuation centers but return to their fields at daytime to continue their work. Emily Armis, 27, one of the farmers' wives left at the centers, complained that the converted schoolhouses were too noisy and congested, had too few toilets and not enough water.

Lorna Gaveria, 36, another farmer's wife, expressed resignation at the repeated evacuations from the volcano, saying: "I am sad because we are not enjoying the comforts of home but we are also happy that the government is taking care of us and giving us foodstuffs."

The cone-shaped mountain has exploded nearly 50 times since 1616, the last of which was on June 23.

It continued to emit smoke, ash and lava for two weeks but ceased erupting on July 4, prompting authorities to send residents home.