Kanlaon Volcano explosive eruption occurs
MANILA, Philippines – An explosive eruption occurred at Negros Island’s Kanlaon Volcano early Tuesday morning, April 8.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the eruption began at 5:51 am. It later posted on social media around 7 am that the eruption had ended.
The eruption produced a “voluminous” plume 4,000 meters or 4 kilometers tall that drifted southwest.
“Pyroclastic density currents or PDCs descended the slopes on the general southern edifice,” added Phivolcs.
PDCs are “hazardous mixtures of hot volcanic gas, ash, and fragmented rock” that travel down volcanic slopes at high speeds.
Kanlaon Volcano has been under Alert Level 3 since December 9, 2024, when an explosive eruption also occurred.
La Castellana, the town in Negros Occidental hardest hit by previous eruptions, took swift action, with Mayor Alme Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan ordering local disaster teams to distribute face masks to residents affected by ashfall, particularly in the barangays of Sag-ang and Cabagna-an.
Classes were suspended in the component cities of Bago and San Carlos as a precaution.
Kanlaon, which straddles the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, is one of the Philippines’ two dozen active volcanoes. – with reports from Ambo Delilan/Rappler.com