Mayon (; , ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano, is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist destination, it is renowned for its "perfect cone" owing to its symmetric conical shape, and is regarded as sacred in Philippine mythology.
The volcano with its surrounding landscape was declared a national park on July 20, 1938, the first in the nation. It was reclassified as a natural park and renamed the Mayon Volcano Natural Park in 2000."Protected Areas in Region 5" . Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau. Retrieved on October 15, 2011. It is the centerpiece of the Albay Biosphere Reserve as declared by UNESCO in 2016, and is currently being nominated as a World Heritage Site.
Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, and its activity is regularly monitored by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) from their provincial headquarters on Ligñon Hill, about from the summit.
Geography
Mayon is the main landmark and highest point of the province of Albay and the whole Bicol Region in the Philippines, rising from the shores of Albay Gulf about away.David, Lee (2008). "Natural Disasters", pp. 416–417. Infobase Publishing. The volcano is geographically shared by the eight cities and municipalities of Legazpi, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao, Tabaco, Malilipot, and Santo Domingo (clockwise from Legazpi), which divide the cone like slices of a pie when viewing a map of their political boundaries. A number of cinder cones surround the volcano, for example Ligñon Hill to the south east and Paulog Cinder Cone to the west.
Geology Mayon is a classic stratovolcano with a small central summit crater. It is one of the world's most symmetrical volcanic cones.
The concave profile, a hyperbolic sine curve of the volcano is due to the balance between erosion and eruption, defined by the angle of repose of ash. The steepest upper slopes of the volcano reach an average slope gradient of 75%, while the lower foot slope is only an average of 3%. The volcanic crater is about in diameter. At least 85 lava flows have been identified, and consist mainly of lava augite-hypersthene-andesite, generally fed from the crater. Pyroclastic flows, characterized as a St. Vincent nuee' ardente, leave behind block and ash deposits, and breadcrust bombs in an ash and lapilli matrix. The farthest flow reached along Fidel Surtida, Santo Domingo. Mayon lahars were formed by rainstorms during eruptions, or by torrential rain afterwards. Averaging in height and in diameter, 7 cinder cones are found on the southern and southwestern lower slopes. Composed of olivine-augite basalt, these cones have an angle of repose of 34%, with Ligñon Hill and Paulog Cinder Cone having been sampled.
Like other volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean, Mayon is a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is on the southeast side of Luzon. The Bicol Arc is one of 7 oceanic trench subduction zones defining the Philippine Mobile Belt. Volcanism in the Bicol Arc is related to the westward subduction of the Philippine Plate along the Philippine Trench. The 12 active and inactive volcanoes within the arc include the Mayon Volcano, Mount Bulusan, Mount Isarog, Mount Iriga, Malinao Volcano, and Mount Masaraga. In general, these are calc-alkali basalts, basaltic andesites, and andesites. Samples from Ligñon Hill and Paulog Cinder Cone are basalt or tachybasalt, with one basaltic trachyandesite and while the main edithice is mainly basaltic andesite, samples of the stratovolcano's eruptives cover most of the sodium potassium oxide composition range of andesite basalts including trachydacite, but not trachyte.
Ecology In August 2021, soils from Mayon have been found containing bacterial species with potential antibiotic and anti-cancer properties. Whole-genome sequencing subsequently confirmed a novel species within Streptomyces and studies showed activity against the human pathogens Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium, as well as inhibiting HCT116 cells from a human colorectal cancer cell line.
Japanese studies have suggested that the extremely thermophilic Calditerricola bacteria is found in volcanic ash samples from both Mayon and Mount Sakurajima in Japan.
Recorded eruptions Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, erupting over 52 times in the past 500 years. Historical observations accounted its first eruption in 1616."Mayon Volcano" Retrieved May 8, 2019. The first eruption for which an extended account exists was the six-day event of July 20, 1766. The earliest eruption dated by radiocarbon methods was in 3100 BCE ± 300 years.
1814 eruption
Its most destructive recorded eruption occurred on February 1, 1814 (VEI=4). Lava flowed but less than the 1766 eruption. The volcano belched dark ash and eventually bombarded the town of Cagsawa with tephra that buried it. Trees burned, and rivers were certainly damaged. Proximate areas were also devastated by the eruption, with ash accumulating to in depth. In Cagsawa town, about 1,200 locals perished in what is considered to be the most lethal eruption in Mayon's history according to PHIVOLCS. The 1814 eruption is believed to have contributed to the accumulation of atmospheric ash together with the catastrophic 1815 eruption of other volcanoes like Indonesia's Mount Tambora, leading to the Year Without a Summer in 1816.
1881–1882 eruption From July 6, 1881, until approximately August 1882, Mayon underwent a strong (VEI=3) eruption. Samuel Kneeland, a naturalist, professor and geologist, personally observed the volcanic activity on Christmas Day, 1881, about five months after the start of the activity: At the date of my visit, the volcano had poured out, for five months continuously, a stream of lava on the Legaspi side from the very summit. The viscid mass bubbled quietly but grandly, and overran the border of the crater, descending several hundred feet in a glowing wave, like red-hot iron. Gradually, fading as the upper surface cooled, it changed to a thousand sparkling rills among the crevices, and, as it passed beyond the line of complete vision behind the woods near the base, the fires twinkled like stars or the scintillations of a dying conflagration. More than half of the mountain height was thus illuminated.
1897 eruption
Mayon's longest uninterrupted eruption occurred on June 23, 1897 (VEI=4), and lasted for seven days. Lava once again flowed down to towns eastward, the village of Bacacay was buried beneath the lava. In Santo Domingo 100 people were killed by steam and falling debris or hot rocks. Other villages like San Roque, Santa Misericordia and Santo Niño became deathtraps. Ash was carried in black clouds as far as from the catastrophic event, which killed more than 400 people.
1984 and 1993 eruptions
No casualties were recorded from the 1984 eruption after more than 73,000 people were evacuated from the danger zones as recommended by PHIVOLCS scientists. But in 1993, pyroclastic flows killed 79 people, mainly farmers, during the eruption that also forced 50,000 residents evacuated, according to the Albay provincial government.
1999 eruption Mayon began its increasing activity in May, with hazard status associated raised to Alert Level 1. On June 22, Mayon emitted an ash column that rose to approximately above the vent; the status was later raised to Alert Level 2. The emission was recorded by the seismic network of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology as an explosion that lasted for 10 minutes. No volcanic earthquakes nor other visible signs of abnormal activity were observed before the explosion.
2000 eruptions Mayon had experienced continuous emissions since 1999 and followed by a series of eruptions in the next two consecutive years.
On January 5, a high ash column was produced by an explosion. Growth of summit-crater dome and intensifying eruptions later signaled evacuations.
Past emissions had led to the growth of the lava dome beginning on February 12. On February 23, series of eruptions began. PHIVOLCS then recommended evacuation even beyond the permanent danger zone. On February 24, PHIVOLCS raised its status to the highest, Alert Level 5, with at least eight towns and one city warned of possible explosions with ash and lava flows, and several thousands forced to evacuate even outside identified danger zones. The most violent eruptions occurred from February 28 to March 1, and since then, declining activity was observed until April.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDCC) reported that the 2000 eruption displaced 14,114 families (68,426 persons) and damaged at least ₱89-million worth of property and crops.
2001 eruption The NDCC reported that another eruption in July affected 11,529 families (56,853 persons) and damaged at least ₱48-million worth of property and crops.
2006 eruptions
Mayon's 48th eruption, since historic records commenced, occurred on July 13, followed by quiet effusion of lava that started on July 14. Nearly 40,000 people were evacuated from the danger zone on the southeast flank of the volcano.
After an ash explosion on September 1, a general decline in the overall activity of Mayon was established. The decrease in key parameters such as seismicity, sulfur dioxide emission rates and ground inflation all indicated a waning condition. The slowdown in the eruptive activity was also evident from the decrease in intensity of crater glow and the diminishing volume of lava extruded from the summit. PHILVOLCS Alert Level 4 was lowered to Level 3 on September 11; to Level 2 on October 3; and to Level 1 on October 25.
2008 eruption On August 10, 2008, a small summit explosion ejected ash above the summit, which drifted east-northeast. In the weeks prior to the eruption, a visible glow increased within the crater and increased seismicity.
2009–2010 eruptions On July 10, 2009, PHIVOLCS raised the status from Alert Level 1 (low level unrest) to Alert Level 2 (moderate unrest) because the number of recorded low frequency volcanic earthquakes rose to the same level as those prior to the 2008 phreatic explosion.
At 5:32 a.m. on October 28, a minor ash explosion lasting for about one minute occurred in the summit crater. A brown ash column rose about above the crater and drifted northeast. In the prior 24 hours, 13 volcanic earthquakes were recorded. Steam emission was at moderate level, creeping downslope toward the southwest. PHIVOLCS maintained the Alert Status at Level 2, but later warned that with the approach of tropical cyclone international codename Mirinae, the danger of lahars and possible crater wall collapse would greatly increase and all specified precautions should be taken.
After dawn, field investigation showed ashfall had drifted southwest of the volcano. In the 24-hour period, the seismic network recorded 20 volcanic earthquakes. Alert Status was kept at Level 2.
At 8 pm on December 14, after 83 volcanic quakes in the preceding 24 hours and increased sulfur dioxide emissions, PHIVOLCS raised the Alert status to Level 3.
Early in the morning of December 15, a moderate ash explosion occurred at the summit crater and "quiet extrusion of lava" resulted in flows down to about from the summit. By evening, Albay Province authorities evacuated about 20,000 residents out of the danger zone and into local evacuation centres. About 50,000 people live within the zone.