PHILIPPINES: Filipinos fear volcano blast,as army intervenes to ensure residents stay out of danger zone

Scientists and villagers in the shadow of a churning volcano in the central Philippines feared Wednesday's (August 9, 2006) full moon would finally provoke a violent eruption, but their suspicions proved wrong as Mount Mayon continued to spew lava without any major eruptions. Volcanologists had warned that Mount Mayon, in the province of Albay, could explode at any time but that the gravitational pull of a full moon could provide the final push. A full moon coincided with at least three of Mayon's nearly 50 explosions over the last four centuries, including the two most recent in 2000 and 2001, volcanologists said. "I do believe, but I think it will not happen. Besides, it is very cloudy, You will not witness anything," said a local tourist Virginia Bernarez, who was among other tourists who came to view the volcano. Filipino and foreign tourists meanwhile flocked to the city of Legazpi to watch nature's fire show. In school houses, crowded with families who fled their homes, villagers swapped tales of Mayon's previous blasts. The Philippine military is not taking any chances. On Thursday (August 10), soldiers patrolled the danger zone to ensure all residents had been evacuated. Nearly 40,000 people have been moved from an 8-km (5-mile) danger zone on the southeast flank of the volcano, which has been quaking and emitting plumes of ash since July, a member of the provincial disaster council said. However, some have not yet left their livestock and vegetable plots, despite an encroaching four-storey wall of scalding lava that has streamed more than 6 kilometres from Mayon's crater. Melvin Mena's wife and two children left for an evacuation centre, but he stayed behind to look after their chickens and pigs. "We are afraid to go back, but what can we do? We need to visit our farm. Now, I know nothing is left. Everything is gone," said Mena. But resident Volcanologist Ernesto Corpuz said the volcano has entered a quiet phase for now. "Mayon volcano has entered a relatively quiet phase at this time. We have been recording only few earthquakes which are a bit unusual for such an active volcano." The 2,462-metre (8,077-foot) mountain is the most active of 22 volcanoes in the Philippines. Its most destructive eruption in 1841 buried a town and killed 1,200 people. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she is confident there will be no casualties if Mayon blows. The Philippines, which sits on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific Ocean known as the "Ring of Fire", is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as well as flooding caused by tropical storms.

ITN Source | August 10, 2006

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