Philippines' Mayon volcano spews ash, could erupt

Ok folks. We got here a volcano that’s about to blow up. Again. Mt. Mayon in the Philippines is smoldering and it isn’t happy. It erupted once in 1814, killing countless numbers of people, and again in 1993, where it killed even more. The civilians have learned their lesson too. During its 2006 eruption, fortunately 30,000 people were successfully evacuated. However, there were about 1000 people who didn’t get that memo and were buried not by pyroclastic flows, but my landslides triggered by the typhoons triggered by the volcanic eruption. Mayon is a composite volcano. It recently has shot a plume of ash into the sky. Also, geologist Ed Laguerta says that the upper slopes of the mountain are inflating, much like the bulge we saw in Mt. St. Helens. This means trouble for Albay, Philippines. Watch out!

Volcanoes interest me. They don’t interest me to the point where I’d want to be a volcanologist, but I do like hearing about them every once in a while. While certainly the parts about homes destroyed and people evacuated are sad and depressing, there are still many intriguing parts to a volcanic eruption. Whenever I see a picture of a volcano taken by satellite, I can’t help but stare at it. The black plumes of ash and smoke and toxic gas being shot up into the sky is hypnotizing. Now, I’m not going to get all naturey on you and say it’s hauntingly beautiful, but it is mesmerizing, to say the least. I’m curious to know more about the Mayon eruption, considering it probably will erupt during second quarter. I wonder what kind of magma is inside, (maybe it’s basaltic, they article never said). I also am curious about the pyroclastic flow. So many questions will be answered once it finally erupts and does it’s business, without everybody safe and sound, out of harms way.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_volcano_5

Hranjski, H. (2009, November 11). Philippines' Mayon volcano spews ash, could
erupt. Yahoo.com. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/
ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_volcano_5