The Philippines has evacuated more than 12,000 people from around the foot of its most active volcano as the crater glows red and authorities warn of a possible eruption, according to The Associated Press.
Mount Mayon, known for its near-perfect cone shape in the coconut-growing central Bicol region, has recorded a series of recent quakes and rockfalls, indicating a possible eruption within weeks, the AP reported.
"We are now raising the alert status of Mayon Volcano from alert level 2 to 3," Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said on Tuesday, according to the AP.
Joey Salceda, governor of the central Albay province, said more than 12,000 people were forcibly evacuated, the AP reported.
"What the alert level 3 did was to fast-track the preparation to evacuate 12,000 families in the 6-8 km extended danger zone," Salceda said, according to the AP. The evacuees would be housed in temporary shelter for as long as three months, and villagers facing the southeastern crater rim, would be moved to safer areas if Mayon erupts.
A major eruption is not expected to impact the country's farm output with mostly subsistence farmers tilling the land around the volcano, the AP reported. There is also no major industry in the area, but an eruption could boost tourism, as happened the last time Mayon erupted in 2009.
The activities show "Mayon is exhibiting relatively high unrest and that magma is at the crater and that hazardous eruption is possible within weeks," the institute said in its bulletin, according to the AP.
The volcano institute said that it was important to keep people out of a "permanent danger zone" extending 4 miles from the mountain's crater ,however, officials say many people venture into the area to farm or live when there is a lull in activity, the AP reported.
Mount Mayon, located about 340 kilometers 210 miles southeast of Manila, has erupted more than 40 times over the past 400 years, according to the AP. On May 7, 2013, the volcano spewed ash, killing five climbers, including three Germans who ventured near the summit despite the permanent danger zone.
