TURNING POINT: Volcanic Unrest
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 11 June) — Are we in the volcanic season of the year?
Three volcanoes in the country are currently restive, namely, Mayon, Taal, and Kanlaon.
Mayon volcano is now at Alert Level 3. Communities inside the six-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone or PDZ are being evacuated. This is due to the danger of pyroclastic density currents, lava flows, rockfalls, and other volcanic hazards in the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Mt.Taal and Mt. Kanlaon are placed on Alert 1 because both are pointing towards higher chances of a phreatic eruption.
The latest worst eruption of Taal was on January 12, 2020. The volcano spewed ashes that blanketed Calabarzon, Metro Manila and parts of Central Luzon for some days. It is displaying similar unrest of late, and is placed at Alert Level 1.
Kanlaon volcano has been under Alert Level 1 since 2020 due to an increase in low-frequency volcanic earthquakes and has also emitted over 1,000 tons of sulfur dioxide lately (June 5) by phreatic eruption.
According to experts of the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), while magmatic eruptions are still more dangerous than phreatic eruptions, the latter can be worrisome. Phreatic eruptions occur generally without precursory signals. In recent years, phreatic eruptions have, accordingly, killed more than magmatic eruptions.
Preemptive evacuation of residents in PDZ saves lives and prevents unnecessary injuries. The condition, however, in evacuation centers is very much wanting. Tents are overly congested and hot for lack of proper ventilation. Sanitation facilities are inadequate. The heat and unsanitary conditions make the elderly and children vulnerable to respiratory illness and other diseases.
In the case of Mayon evacuees, to stay in the refuge for a month or two is torture. Reasons why, despite the risk and hazards, many would like to return to their homes after a few days stay in the evacuation sites.
There are always limitations in what the government authorities can do to make mass evacuation well-provided and comfortable. Anywhere, the reality is that the longer the evacuation period in a place, the greater the discomfort and suffering of the evacuees. This is given, the price of survival. Nothing much can be done about it.
Anyway, on volcanic eruptions, one in June is worth recalling; it put the country in the map.
On June 15, 1991, Mt. Pinatubo, a long-dormant volcano in Zambales, blew its top in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds of people, destroying incalculable worth of infrastructures and properties, natural waterways, and impairing agricultural productivity in lahar-covered farms for years. The preemptive mass evacuation days prior the eruption prevented the catastrophic loss of lives. The preemptive evacuation resulted from the US Geodetic and Seismology forecast of the imminence of an eruption.
The eruption is historic in magnitude and significance: the volcanic ashes spewed by Mt. Pinatubo 40 kilometers up in the skies reportedly covered the earth’s atmosphere for some four years blocking much of solar radiation and cooling the planet during that period.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental)
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