A volcano in the central Philippines erupted early on Tuesday, spewing a towering plume of ash into the sky and prompting fresh warnings for nearby residents and schools.
Mount Kanlaon on Negros Island erupted at 5.51am local time (22.51 GMT on Monday), releasing an ash cloud that reached up to 4,000m above the summit and drifted southwest.
The eruption lasted nearly an hour, ending around 6.47am, , according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Videos posted on social media showed a wide, grey plume billowing high into the air as startled residents looked on.
Authorities said the surrounding areas were already under evacuation orders from a previous eruption in December, helping to minimise immediate risks.
“We were prepared for the eruption. The families within the 4 to 6km were already evacuated during the previous eruption,” said John De Asis, a rescue official in La Castellana municipality in Negros Occidental province.
He added that local officials were monitoring which villages could be affected by ashfall and had recommended cancelling classes and work in the area as a precaution.
“The sound seemed like a big rock had fallen from a high place, then I looked up and saw the ash cloud getting bigger and bigger… I felt nervous, but not as nervous as the previous eruption, because this time we know what to do,” Channel Nicor, 22, who was waiting for a bus to school when the volcano erupted, told AFP.
The alert level for Kanlaon remains at Level 3 on a five-step scale, indicating a “relatively high level of unrest” and the potential for further eruptions.
Philippine chief volcanologist Teresito Bacolcol told The Associated Press there were no other key signs of restiveness, such as a spike in volcanic earthquakes, that would prompt the alert on Kanlaon to be raised from the current level 3. The highest alert, level 5, means a “hazardous eruption is in progress”.
“The possibility of a bigger eruption is always there,” Mr Bacolcol said, urging people to remain vigilant and stay away from a 6km (3.7miles) danger zone around Kanlaon.
Mount Kanlaon, which rises to 2,465m (7,988ft), is the highest mountain and most active volcano on the Visayan Islands. It is one of 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – a 40,000km horseshoe-shaped belt around the Pacific Ocean where tectonic plates meet, making the region highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The region regularly experiences volcanic and seismic activity. In September 2024, the same volcano released thousands of tonnes of harmful gases in a single day, leading to temporary evacuations in nearby communities.