Mount Bulusan erupts anew, spews 1-km high ash

Mount Bulusan erupted again early Wednesday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said.

PHIVOLCS said the phreatic explosion occurred at 4:58 a.m. and it lasted for about nine minutes.

"The event was recorded as an explosion-type earthquake," it said, adding that the volcano spewed
a one-kilometer high ash plume.

PHIVOLCS also reported that a total of 28 volcanic earthquakes on Mount Bulusan were recorded during the past 24 hours, from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Today's eruption was the second since Monday morning.

Following the first eruption, PHIVOLCS declared an extended danger zone on the southern flank of Mount Bulusan by two kilometers.

PHIVOLCS cited the "recent low-magnitude phreatic eruptions" from three sources: the summit crater, the northwest and southeast vents.

Among the recent eruptions cited by the PHIVOLCS were the events on September 30 and last Monday.

"While these eruption sources are within the Four-Kilometer Radius Permanent Danger Zone or PDZ wherein habitation is strictly prohibited due to a permanently high degree of hazards, the southeast vents bring about increased concern," the agency said in an announcement on Tuesday afternoon.

It said that southeast vents, which "pose a potential source of eruption," is close to the barangays Mapaso, Irosin, and San Roque, Bulusan.

PHIVOLCS said these villages are in danger of possible "volcanic hazard of impacting large ballistic ejecta."

Barangays Patag and Irosin are also at risk of "small-volume but hazardous pyroclastic density currents can potentially be generated by stronger steam-driven or phreatic eruptions and travel down the Malunoy and Mapaso Rivers," the agency added.

Mount Bulusan remained under Alert Level 1, which means "hydrothermal processes are ongoing beneath the volcano that may lead to more steam-driven eruptions." —ALG, GMA News