(DPA)
The Philippines’ most active volcano has erupted, covering surrounding villages with ashfall, authorities said on Sunday.
Some 52 villages around the Mayon Volcano in Albay province, 330 kilometres south-east of Manila, have been affected since Saturday, the PNA news agency reported, citing authorities.
Lava has also begun flowing down the mountainside.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned the public that rockfalls, landslides or avalanches, lava flow and fountaining as well as moderate-sized explosions were possible.
It stressed that a 6-kilometre-radius permanent danger zone around the 2,463-metre volcano, known for its perfect cone shape, must be strictly observed.
Some 32 volcanic earthquakes, including 25 volcanic tremors, had been reported within 24 hours, Phivolcs added.
The Mayon's most violent eruption was in 1814, when more than 1,200 people were killed and a town was buried in volcanic mud. An eruption in 1993 killed 79 people.