The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) suggested on Monday that the activity of Mayon Volcano might subside within a few weeks.
According to resident volcanologist Paul Alanis from Phivolcs, approximately 16 million cubic meters of volcanic materials have been expelled.
“From our computations nasa around 16 million cubic meters of volcanic materials ang inilabas. Kung icocompare yan sa similar eruption nung 2009 na umabot around 20 million cubic meters of volcanic materials kung titignan natin kung pareho itong 2023 sa 2009, konti nalang po yung aantayin natin para tumigil yung eruption,” he said.
Mayon Volcano, known as the most active volcano in the Philippines, was initially placed under Alert Level 2 on June 5 due to its increasing unrest.
Shortly thereafter, the alert level was elevated to Level 3, which remains in effect to this day.
“From our assessment, siguro mga ilang linggo nalang, titigil na yung eruption,” Alanis further explained.
Phivolcs has characterized the volcanic activities of Mayon as a "relatively quiet effusive eruption," which means that lava is steadily flowing out of the volcano's vent.
Furthermore, Alanis noted that the frequency of volcanic earthquakes has been on the rise.
Since June 1, a total of 834 quakes have been recorded, spanning approximately two weeks.
In a more recent timeframe between July 16 and July 17, 184 volcanic earthquakes were detected.
As a precautionary measure, over 20,000 residents have been evacuated from the six-kilometer permanent danger zone surrounding Mayon Volcano.
As of July 18, Phivolcs has recorded 150 incidents of rockfall and three instances of dome-collapse pyroclastic density current (PDC) events.
The volcano emitted 2,212 tons of sulfur dioxide, which serves as another indicator of its volcanic activity, with a total of 267 volcanic earthquakes.
