MANILA—The Philippines raised the alert level at the popular Mayon volcano by a notch on Thursday, after detecting volcanic earthquakes and hundreds of rockfall events.
The 2,462-meter (8,077-foot) volcano in central Albay Province—a draw for tourists because of its near-perfect conical shape—”is exhibiting magmatic eruption,” the state volcanology agency said in a statement.
At “alert level 3” on a scale of 5, Mayon has increased chances of lava flows and a potential for explosive activity within weeks or even days, it added.
The agency had elevated Mayon to “alert level 2” on June 5.
It said people within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of the volcano should be evacuated while pilots should avoid flying their aircraft close to the volcano’s crater….