700 families evacuated from Mayon rim area
Volcano threatens to erupt in about a week
Manila: Local officials evacuated some 700 families or 3,550 persons near the plume-spewing mouth of Mayon volcano in Bicol, central Philippines, to prevent fatalities like those in 2001 and 2006, radio reports said.
Residents of Bañadero and Matnog villages in Daraga were brought to the Anislag resettlement site and Daraga, Albay, Daraga Mayor Ceciro Triunfante said in a radio interview
Sources said that Matnog and Banadero villages were predicted as the path of Mayon's sizzling volcanic debris called pyroclastic flow.
"We are waiting for Mayon's magma to rise. Mayon's upper slopes were inflated, indicating that a major explosion could occur within a week or two," said Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) chief Renato Solidum.
Seven volcanic earthquakes were also recorded at Mayon. Its sulfur dioxide emission rate was measured at 510 tonnes per day, above the baseline 500 tonnes per day, Solidum said. Additional scientists were sent to monitor Mayon's activity.
