• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The seismic activity at Kanlaon Volcano remained at double digits on July 4, and emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from the crater of Kanlaon reached 3,779 tons on Wednesday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
A total of 67 volcanic earthquakes have been recorded by the Kanlaon Volcano Network between 12 a.m. of July 3 to 12:00 noon of July 4.
The normal volcanic sulfur dioxide gas emissions for Kanlaon is 300 tons a day.
The overall monitoring parameters indicate that magmatic processes beneath the volcano may be driving current unrest, causing increased volcanic earthquake activity, persistently high concentrations of volcanic gas emission and swelling of the edifice, PHIVOLCS said.
This means that there is current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to explosive eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruption at the summit crater, it added.
It also reminded the public that Alert Level 2 (increasing unrest) prevails over Kanlaon, and discouraged the entry into the four kilometer-radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) to minimize risks from volcanic hazards such as pyroclastic density currents, ballistic projectiles, rockfall and others.*
