Following the eruption of a volcano in the central Philippines on Tuesday, hundreds of people sought refuge in evacuation centers.
On Monday night, the volcano Mount Kanlaon on the island of Negros erupted for six minutes, launching a plume of ash, boulders, and gases five kilometers (three miles) into the sky.
On a scale of zero to five, the state volcanology department increased the volcano’s alert status from one to two, indicating that more violent eruptions were possible.
Official statistics show that because of the volcano’s potential to release lahars, falling ash, and gasses, at least 2,800 people have been evacuated to emergency centers.
Lahars are mammoth flows of volcanic debris deposited on the volcano’s slopes and unleashed by heavy rain. They can bury villages.
Canlaon city, in Negros Oriental province, ordered people living next to rivers downstream of the volcano to leave their homes and said non-essential businesses should shut.
Multiple flights to and from Bacolod, the capital of Negros Occidental province and the nearest major airport to the volcano, were cancelled.
“The smoke has dissipated already,” Robert Araneta of the Negros Occidental provincial disaster agency told AFP.
“We’re not seeing any threatening activities from the volcano. Some municipalities can still smell the sulphur.”
A layer of ash was visible on buildings and roadways in images and videos that were shared on Facebook and confirmed by AFP.
The “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific, which is home to more than half of the world’s volcanoes, is where the Philippines is situated.
Among the 24 active volcanoes in the nation of archipelagos is Kanlaon.
Dense accumulations of ash can cause house roofs to collapse and clog airplane engines.
About 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Manila, Pinatubo erupted in 1991, causing the deadliest volcanic explosion in recent memory and killing over 800 people.
