Asia-Pacific News
Philippine volcano spews ash, public warned to stay away
Sep 15, 2009, 10:56 GMT
Manila - An active volcano in the eastern Philippines spewed ash on Tuesday, prompting authorities to warn the public to stay away from the mountain.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the ash explosions occurred at Mayon Volcano in Albay province, 330 kilometres south-east of Manila.
'These events lasted for about three minutes,' the institute said. 'The explosions produced a brownish ash column that rose about 700 metres above the crater and drifted to the south-west.'
Phivolcs said a faint crater glow was also observed at Mayon on Monday evening, but it did not raise the alert level at the volcano from its current status.
Mayon Volcano, famous for its almost perfect cone, has erupted about 50 times since 1616. Its last activity was in July 2006 when Phivolcs recorded a quiet outflow of lava.
Its most violent eruption was in 1814 when more than 1,200 people were killed and a town was buried in volcanic mud. An eruption in 1993 killed 79 people.
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