Evacuation continues in the Philippines as the Mt Kanlaon volcano erupts Volcano News

Around 54,000 people will be covered by evacuation efforts, as authorities prepare for a ‘worst case scenario’.

Mount Kanlaon in the central Philippines has erupted, sending a huge plume of ash into the sky and panicking residents as the government ordered the evacuation of thousands of those living in surrounding towns and villages.

“There was an eruption at the Kanlaon volcano at 3:03 pm (0703 GMT) today,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said in a statement on Monday.

“All local government agencies are advised to evacuate 6km (4 miles) from the volcano’s summit and must be prepared for further evacuation if activity warrants,” it added.

PHIVOLCS later warned that there are indications that Mount Kanlaon may erupt violently in the coming days.

Photos posted on social media following the eruption showed several areas near the volcano covered in thick volcanic ash.

Rising more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of the 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines.

The Defense Office estimates that 54,000 people or 12,000 families will be affected by evacuation efforts. It is unclear how long the eviction process will take.

“The authorities are preparing for the worst-case scenario to increase the level of vigilance … which may require the adoption of security measures,” the civil protection office said in a statement.

“Evacuations are still ongoing” in four villages north of the town of La Castellana, on the volcano’s southwest slope, municipal police officer Staff Sergeant Ronel Arevalo told AFP news agency.

Governor Eugenio Lacson of Negros Occidental Province told ABS-CBN News that he is ready to declare a state of calamity if the situation worsens.

La Castellana resident Dianne Paula Abendan, 24, used her cell phone to capture a video clip of a large cauliflower-shaped gray plume of smoke over the crater.

“For the past few days, we have seen black smoke coming out [the] a volcano. We expected it to explode anytime this week,” he told AFP by phone.

Abendan said people rushed home to wait for evacuation orders, but added that the eruption appeared to have occurred a little over an hour later.

In September, hundreds of nearby residents were evacuated after the volcano spewed thousands of tons of noxious gases in a single day.

The seismology office said Kanlaon has erupted more than 40 times since 1866.

In 1996, three climbers were killed by volcanic ash.