Forced Evacuation of Bulusan Volcano-affected Villagers on Going

Legazpi City (PNA) — Bracing for lahar flow that could be spawned by Typhoon “Dodong” and the possible sudden phreatic explosion of Mount Bulusan, Sorsogon disaster authorities have enforced forced evacuation to safer grounds of at least 1,020 persons or 216 families from Barangay (village) Cogon in Irosin town, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Friday.

Raffy Alejandro, quoting a report from the Sorsogon Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (SPDRRMC) said evacuation started at about 2:00 p.m. Friday as military trucks were made available already to haul these villagers threatened by either lahar and phreatic explosions, including ash falls.

The villagers will be brought to the evacuation camp at the Gallanosa National High School in Irosin town.

Barangay Cogon is located within the declared four-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) wherein no human activity is allowed due to the danger posed by sudden volcanic eruptions.

However, reports reaching the Sorsogon PDRRMC said residents of Cogon refused to leave their homes and farmlands despite the danger posed by sudden eruptions.

When ask why the village remained inside the four-km PDZ, Alejandro said the Regional DRRMC and the OCD had submitted a contingency plan to relocate Barangay Cogon but the PDRRMC and the Irosin MDRRC have yet to take action on the proposal.

Also, the aerial survey scheduled Thursday was postponed for next week because of Typhoon Dodong that would hover over the Bicol peninsula on Saturday, he said.

After ejecting ash for the past several days, Mount Bulusan stayed calm Thursday, with no seismic activity detected but volcanologists said the calm condition would also mean that the volcano’s seismic event is gathering steam and has remained in a restive mode.

The Bulusan volcano bulletin as of 8:00 a.m. Friday said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’s seismic instruments did not detect any volcanic quakes during the 24-hour observation period.

Phivolcs scientist said weak emission of white steam was observed from the vents in the southwest and in the northwest upper slopes.

Alert Level 1 (abnormal) remains in effect over the volcano.

Phivolcs data showed that the Bulusan volcano sits on a 400-square-kilometer surface and towers to about 1,559 meters above sea level.

The volcano forms part of the Bicol Volcanic Chain or belt which stretches from Camarines Norte to Sorsogon.

The volcano has 18 recorded eruptions exhibiting ash and dust emissions, lava flows, ash-laden steam cloud ejection and phreatic eruptions.

Sixty villages in the towns of Barcelona, Bulusan, Casiguran, Gubat, Irosin and Juban surround Mount Bulusan. (PNA) FPV/FGS/MSA/CBD/RSM