Mount Kanlaon is one of two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
“Some local government units (LGU) have started evacuations. There’s already ash fall in LGUs near Kanlaon,” Bryll Sanor, a disaster agency staff in Negros Occidental province, said by phone.
The civil defence office said emergency evacuations were underway for people living near the volcano, without saying how many had been evacuated so far. About 54,000 people could be affected by the eruption.
“Authorities are preparing for the worst-case scenario of raising the alert level … which would necessitate further evacuation and safety measures,” the civil defence office said in a statement.
The civil aviation regulator said flights near Mount Kanlaon were operating as normal, but advised pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano.
Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are major producers of sugarcane.
In September, hundreds of nearby residents had been evacuated after the volcano spurted thousands of tonnes of harmful gases in a single day.
The seismology office said Kanlaon has erupted more than 40 times since 1866.
In 1996 three hikers were killed due to ash ejection from the volcano.
