Mayon is an active volcano in the Philippines, on the island of Luzon, in the province of Albay. It is located a few kilometers to the south is the town of Legazpi. Mayon is a stratovolcano. It's an almost perfect cone, which makes it comparable to Mount Fuji, and is composed of pyroclastic lavas. It is geologically located at the boundary of the Eurasian and Philippine plates, a subduction zone.
Volcanic Eruptions History
It is the most active volcano in the country, with about 50 eruptions in the last four centuries.
The first recorded eruption took place in 1616, and since then, there have been more than 30 major eruptions causing human and economic losses.
The eruption that was most destructive happened in 1814. On February 1 of that year, the lava submerged and killed 1,200 people in Cagsawa, the nearby town. Only the bell tower of the village church remained. The eruption of February 1993 was also deadly: the ash flow killed 77 people.
Other eruptions took place in 1897, 1928, 1947. On March 16, 2000, eruption No. 47 took place, which caused a column of ash 1 kilometer high. In 2001, more than 25,000 people were evacuated, after 73,000 in 19841. In 2003, there were two eruptions, on March 17 and October 13.
On August 7, 2006, the massive displacement of more than 30,000 people was decided due to the risk of eruption of the Mayon2. By August 9, nearly 40,000 people had been evacuated from an area up to 8 km southeast of the volcano.
On December 15, 2009, the Philippine authorities began a new evacuation of people living near the volcano, which showed worrying signs of activity. On December 20, the authorities warned the population of the island of Luzon about a possible eruption of the volcano in the next few days. On December 24, after 50,000 people had already left the area, Philippine soldiers forcibly evacuated hundreds of residents from the volcano's vicinity. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered authorities to search for recalcitrant residents within an eight-kilometer radius of the volcano area and evacuate them. In addition, on Christmas Eve, volunteers distributed gifts to children in the 45 camps where residents of the region are refugees. Volcanologists believe that the volcano's eruption is imminent.
On January 15, 2018, the Philippine government asked 12,000 people to evacuate a seven-kilometer safety perimeter around Mayon again due to a significant increase in activity over the previous few days.