In the shadow of a Philippine volcano, scenes from people's lives

For people living around Mayon, the most active volcano in the Philippines, their lives can be disrupted by the moods of the mountain, which again has started spewing lava and noxious gases.

Nearly 14,000 residents have been evacuated from communities surrounding the volcano in Albay province since last week and thousands more have been told to prepare for an eruption. Authorities have raised the alert level to three on a scale of five after detecting a growing number of rock falls on the 2,472-meter (8,077-foot) volcano.

Lava has been flowing down the slopes of Mayon since the past weekend, emitting a menacing reddish glow at night, prompting local officials to extend the permanent danger zone from six to seven kilometers (3.7 to 4.3 miles) because of the volcano’s “increasing unrest.” 

On Monday, Albay provincial Gov. Edcel Greco Lagman said people surrounding the volcano were on alert. 

“The population inside the seven-kilometer extended danger zone is under preparedness status – meaning, evacuation will be executed anytime and [they] should bring with them their necessities to the evacuation center,” Lagman said in an advisory. 

Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said people in evacuation centers could be in for a long stay. 

“If it were a violent eruption, this would probably just take a few days to weeks,” he said. “But if it’s just slow like this, it will probably take several months.”

In 2013, five hikers, including three Germans who ignored warnings and strayed near Mayon’s summit, were killed when it erupted. The volcano’s most destructive eruption was in 1841, when an entire town was buried and 1,200 people killed. 

Jeoffrey Maitem and Noel Celis in Albay, Philippines, contributed to this report.