PHIVOLCS: Kanlaon Volcano logs 2-minute moderately explosive eruption

Another moderately explosive eruption occurred at the Kanlaon Volcano on Negros Island on Thursday night that was followed by continuous ash emissions, the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said.

In posts on its social media accounts, PHIVOLCS said the eruption happened at around 7:04 p.m. Thursday, February 26 and lasted for two minutes based on seismic and infrasound records.

PHIVOLCS also shared time-lapse footages of the moderately explosive eruption using thermal cameras.

“This event generated a plume that rose 2,500 meters above the crater before drifting southwest,” state volcanologists said.

PHIVOLCS added that “incandescent ballistics were observed to have rained around the crater.”

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) descended the volcano’s eastern and southeastern upper slopes within two kilometers of the summit crater.

“The event was immediately followed by continuous ash emission that persists until posting time,” PHIVOLCS said.

According to Aileen Pedreso’s report on “Saksi” on Thursday night, three sitios in La Carlota City and La Castellana, both in Negros Occidental, are now experiencing ashfall due to the direction of the wind.

PHIVOLCS said it will be assessing the monitoring parameters within the next 24 hours for possible changes in the current alert level status of the volcano of Kanlaon Volcano, which remains at Alert Level 2.

The moderately explosive eruption came exactly a week after a similar moderately explosive eruption of the volcano on February 19 that lasted two minutes. — JMA, GMA Integrated News