Around 9,000 people were evacuated from the areas close to Mount Mayon in the Philippines on Sunday. This was in the wake of the volcano that begun to spew ash and steam.
The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology has increased the alert status of the volcano to Alert Level 3. This clearly indicates that Mount Mayon is showing signs of increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.
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Renato Solidum, the institute head said lava flowed down a gully at least half-a-kilometer from the crater. To add to it, the ash clouds appeared mid-slope on Monday morning.
The molten rocks and lava at Mayon's crater ignited the night sky on Sunday in spite of thick clouds. This drove thousands of residents into evacuation shelters.
Mayon is a famous tourist attraction as it’s a near perfect cone and situated in Albay province, about 210 miles southeast of Manila.
The Mayon has erupted about 50 times in the past 500 years. There were times when the eruption was violent.
As of now, almost 1,000 families have been moved to emergency shelters, as per disaster-response officials.
The villagers that live nearby the volcano have erected huge white crosses at the entrance of their areas, hoping they might protect them from the forthcoming danger.
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