Drone footage released by the Philippine Red Cross on Tuesday, December 10, showed homes, roads and buildings covered in ash in the aftermath of a volcano eruption in the Central Philippine province of Negros Occidental.
Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano straddling the Southeast Asian country’s central provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, erupted for a second time this year on December 9, sending an ash cloud up to 4,000 meters into the sky at about 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) local time.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised its alert level to 3 on a scale of 5. Level 3 means there is an increased risk of lava flows and the potential for a hazardous eruption within weeks.
The civil defense 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.
