Mount Mayon erupts for third time in less than 24 hours

Another phreatic eruption occurred at Mount Mayon before noon Sunday, the third event recorded in less than 24 hours.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said on its Twitter account that the third phreatic eruption was recorded at 11:43 a.m., which lasted for at least 15 minutes.

It said ashfall was experienced in Camalig town in Albay, which has already been affected by the two earlier eruptions.

In an earlier advisory, PHIVOLCS said the second phreatic eruption was recorded at 8:49 a.m., which lasted approximately five minutes.

The volcano emitted a grayish steam and ash plume in the second eruption. Sulfurous odor was also detected and residents in Barangay Anolong in Camalig heard rumbling sounds, the agency added.

The first phreatic eruption was recorded at 4:21 p.m. on Saturday, which lasted approximately an hour and 45 minutes.

During the first eruption, the volcano spewed grayish steam and ash plume approximately 2,500 meters high that drifted to the southwest portion.

PHIVOLCS has raised Alert Level 2 over the volcano, which means the "current unrest is probably of magmatic origin, which could lead to more phreatic eruptions or eventually to hazardous magmatic eruptions."

It had also recorded a total of 78 rockfall events since the first eruption until 8 a.m. Sunday.

Local authorities in Albay have implemented preemptive evacuations in areas affected by the ashfall and rockfall events since the first eruption. —ALG, GMA News