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Evacuation Ongoing as Philippine Volcano Erupts
Mass evacuation is ongoing near Mount Mayon in central Philippines on Sunday as the volcano continues to spew molten lava and volcanic debris into the air, officials said.
Some 15,000 residents living within the eight-kilometer extended danger zone around Mayon, some 350 kilometers southeast of Manila, have been evacuated to designated shelters in the afternoon, said officials of the Task Force Mayon, spearheaded by the Armed Forces of the Philippines
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs)raised the alert level around the 2,642-meter Mayon to the maximum 5 after it erupted again at about 12:15 Sunday.
An eruption more than two hours later let loose five pyroclastic flows down the volcano's southeastern slopes and formed an eruption column that rose 15 kilometers into the sky.
Phivolcs Director Raymundo Punongbayan said in a radio interview that intermittent explosive eruptions may be expected in the next one to two weeks as Mayon alternates between resting and building up pressure and erupting.
Evacuation began Saturday night after a series of mild to moderate eruptions of the volcano, which has been restive since January.
Mayon, the most active volcano in the country, last erupted in February 2000, forcing 68,000 people from their home.
The volcano has erupted over 40 times since 1616. Its earliest and most destructive eruption, on February 1, 1814, buried an entire town in volcanic mud and killed more than 1,200 people. The latest violent eruption was recorded on February 2, 1993, when 77 people were killed.
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