MANILA (Reuters) -A volcano in the central Philippines erupted on Tuesday morning, ejecting an ash-laden plume reaching around 4,000 metres (2.5 miles) high, the seismology agency said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said alert level 3 remained in effect over Mount Kanlaon, where it has been since December 2024 after an earlier explosive event.
Level 3, on a scale of 5, means there is an increased risk of lava flows and the potential for a hazardous eruption within weeks.
Mount Kanlaon, an active volcano straddling the Southeast Asian country’s central provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, is one of two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines.
Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol told DWPM radio there is a possibility the alert level could either be raised or lowered in the coming days, depending on how quickly magma rises to the surface.
A faster ascent could trigger a more intense eruption, prompting an escalation to alert level 4, while a slowdown or pause in magma movement may lead to a downgrade to alert level 2, Bacolcol said.
The Southeast Asian nation is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by Stephen Coates)
