• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A week after a moderately explosive eruption, Kanlaon Volcano erupted again on Thursday night, with pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) descending the eastern and southeastern upper portion slopes within two kilometers of the summit crater.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported that the moderately explosive eruption lasted two minutes, with plumes rising up to 2,500 meters above the crater before drifting southwest.
It was followed by continuous ash emissions, PHIVOLCS said.
Local chief executives of Isabela, La Castellana, Binalbagan in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, announced the suspension of classes at all levels, effective today.
In a statement, Mayor Miguel Angelo Yulo reported sulfuric smell in several barangays of Isabela, as he encouraged town residents to stay indoors and wear face masks.
Ashfall was reported in several areas of La Castellana, according to reports of its Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
The La Carlota City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office reported that the glowing trails and fires visible on Kanlaon Volcano eruption were caused by burning vegetation and superheated rocks, not lava flows.
According to DRRMO Operations Section Chief Kenneth Salsalida, the volcano’s explosive activity expelled PDCs—fast-moving avalanches of intensely hot gas, ash, and fragmented rock—rather than oozing liquid magma.
As these PDCs and glowing ballistic boulders, which can reach temperatures over 1,000°C, cascade down the dark, heavily vegetated slopes, they create an optical illusion of flowing lava while instantly carbonizing and igniting the trees and brush upon contact, Salsalida said in a statement.
The La Carlota City DRRMO prepared to dispatch water supply for areas affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption.
The Kanlaon eruption took place almost six days after residents in three barangays of Bago and La Carlota returned to their respective homes on February 21, two days after the eruption on Feb. 19.*
