Mass evacuation of Philippine villages under way after brief but major volcanic eruption

Mass evacuations underway in the Philippines after Mount Kanlaon eruption, posing health risks and disrupting travel plans.

About 87,000 people were being evacuated in a central Philippine region on Tuesday (December 10, 2024) a day after a volcano briefly erupted with a towering ash plume and superhot streams of gas and debris hurtling down its western slopes.

The latest eruption of Mount Kanlaon on central Negros island did not cause any immediate casualties, but the alert level was raised one level, indicating further and more explosive eruptions may occur.

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Volcanic ash fell on a wide area, including Antique province, more than 200 km (124 miles) across seawaters west of the volcano, obscuring visibility and posing health risks, Philippine chief volcanologist Teresito Bacolcol and other officials said over the telephone.

At least six domestic flights and a flight bound for Singapore were cancelled and two local flights were diverted in the region on Monday (December 9, 2024) and Tuesday (December 10, 2024) due to Kanlaon’s eruption, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

“The mass evacuations were being carried out urgently in towns and villages nearest the western and southern slopes of Kanlaon which were blanketed by its ash, including in La Castellana town in Negros Occidental where nearly 47,000 people have to be evacuated out of a 6 km (3.7-mile) danger zone,” the Office of Civil Defence said.

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