Philippine Volcano Calms Down
By JIM GOMEZ
12:17 PM ET 09/23/99
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine villagers began returning home from
evacuation shelters Thursday after a volcano that had been belching ash-laden smoke and
burning rocks into the air calmed down. Government scientists said the Mayon volcano in
Albay province, 210 miles southeast of Manila, was puffing wisps of steam but showing no
signs of major ash explosions or an eruption. ``It's like the volcano just burped,'' said
Renato Arevalo, a civil defense official in Legazpi, Albay's capital city.
More than 5,700 people had fled from 10 villages on the slope of and around
Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes, after it shot grayish steam about 3{
miles into the air in a powerful explosion Wednesday. There were no casualties.
Some villagers have started returning home from school buildings used as
shelters, Arevalo said.
The government has sent 20 army trucks to a police camp 12 miles away from the
volcano to haul away villagers in case of further volcanic unrest, he said, and disaster
response teams are standing by.
Mayon, a popular tourist attraction because of its scenic cone-like shape, last
erupted in February 1993, killing at least 70 people. Scientists have been closely
monitoring the volcano since it belched ash-laden steam on June 22.
Officials have advised about 1,800 families living in six villages within a
radius of about 3 miles around the summit to voluntarily leave for safer areas, but many
ignore such warnings. Ed Laguerta, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology in Albay, said officials flew around the volcano Tuesday and observed no signs
that magma was moving up the crater. Mayon's most violent eruption on Feb. 1, 1814, killed
more than 1,200 people and buried an entire town in volcanic mud flows. The Philippines is
in the Pacific ``Ring of Fire,'' subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
See also: Volcano Watch
