Evacuations are underway as the Philippine volcano erupts

A volcano erupted in the central Philippines on Monday, sending a huge column of ash high into the sky as the government ordered the evacuation of surrounding villages.

Rising more than 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines.

“An explosive eruption occurred at the summit vent of Kanlaon Volcano at 3:03 p.m. (07:03 GMT) today,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.

“All local government units are advised to evacuate within six kilometers (four miles) of the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for further evacuations if the activity requires it,” it said.

“Evacuations are underway” in four high-mountain villages in the town of La Castellana on the volcano’s southwestern slope, municipal police officer Sergeant Ronel Arevalo told AFP, adding that he did not know the total number of residents to be evacuated.

La Castellana resident Dianne Paula Abendan, 24, captured a video clip on her cell phone of a huge, cauliflower-shaped mass of gray smoke rising above the crater.

“In the last few days we have seen black smoke rising from the volcano. We were expecting it to erupt sometime this week,” she told AFP by phone.

Abendan said people rushed home to await evacuation orders, but added that volcanic activity appeared to have subsided somewhat about an hour later.

The seismology office said the plume rose up to 3,000 meters above the vent, with red-hot ash and other materials also falling on its southeastern slope.

The activity means that “a magmatic eruption has begun, which could lead to further explosive eruptions,” it said.

In September, hundreds of residents were evacuated after the volcano spewed thousands of tons of harmful gases in a single day.

The seismological office said Kanlaon has erupted more than 40 times since 1866.

In 1996, three hikers were killed by the volcano’s ash spewing.

cgm/mtp