29.8 C
Manila
Friday, March 29, 2024

Bago City Evacuates 18 Families As Mt. Kanlaon Shows Unrest

- Advertisement -

Some 18 families in Bago City, Negros Occidental were evacuated Tuesday night amid the activity of Mt. Kanlaon, which remains at Alert Level 1.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Wednesday these residents were transferred to a school as a precautionary measure.

“The good news is, in the last 24 hours there have been 38 volcano-tectonic earthquakes. If you compare that to the previous 24 hours, where there was over a hundred, it seems that it has mellowed down, and I hope this will continue,” he added.

Alert Level 1 means the volcano is at an abnormal condition and has entered a period of unrest.

According to the Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, those evacuated, which totaled 76 individuals, are all residents of Barangay Ilijan, where earthquakes were felt, and sulfuric fumes were emitted by the volcano.

On Wednesday, information, education and communication activities and assessment were also conducted as part of the city’s preparedness, it added.

Lacson said he asked again for prayers that Negros Occidental will be spared from another calamity.

“It is one problem that we really don’t need, at all. Otherwise, it (the volcano) has mellowed down. Even the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said there is no dramatic increase in tremors,” he added.

Lacson also said the local government units (LGUs) around Mt. Kanlaon already have contingency plans.

Concerned LGUs were alerted after two magnitude 4.7 earthquakes rocked areas surrounding the volcano early Monday morning. A series of aftershocks were recorded.

The epicenter was located between Bago City and La Carlota City, which also stepped up its preparedness following the volcano-tectonic earthquakes.

Recently,  Mayor Rex Jalando-on convened the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) in a meeting also attended by the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division head Zeaphard Caelian and Phivolcs science research specialist Mari-Andylene Quintia.

Jalando-on directed the CDRRMC to set up a command center, activate the city’s incident command system, and mobilize the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils.

In the Kanlaon Volcano Bulletin issued at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Phivolcs said that the seismic monitoring network recorded 38 volcano-tectonic earthquakes on the western flanks in the last 24 hours.

On Monday, 136 earthquakes were monitored while on Tuesday, only 104. (Nanette Guadalquiver)

- Advertisement -

Leave a Reply

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Latest Articles

- Advertisement -