MANILA: A volcano erupted in the central Philippines on Thursday evening, sending a billowing plume of ash about 2,500 meters (1.5 miles) into the nighttime sky.
The two-minute eruption began at 7:04 p.m. (1104 GMT), state volcanology agency director Teresito Bacolcol said, saying “there might be a bigger explosive eruption in the next few days.”
Kanlaon Volcano, one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago nation, has had several major eruptions in the past century — including a 1996 blast that killed three hikers who were near the summit at the time.
“This is the second moderate eruption in a week,” Bacolcol said in a phone interview, adding his agency would monitor the volcano for 24 hours before deciding if it should raise the alert level from two to three on its five-point scale.
“This event generated a plume that rose 2,500 meters above the crater before drifting southwest. Incandescent ballistics were observed to have rained around the crater,” the volcanology center said in a statement released minutes later.
