Mount Bulusan gets alert level 1

Volcanic Alert
March 30, 2006
SORSOGON CITY - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has placed Mount Bulusan on alert level one after it showed increased restiveness Sunday morning.
Renato Solidum, Phivolcs director, said under normal conditions, the volcano only records five or less number of quakes.
Solidum said there was a significant increase in seismicity at Bulusan since last year and an increase in steam emission on March 3 this year.
He said they expect steam-driven and "phreatic" explosions to occur with the volcano’s increased seismic activity.
"If the present earthquake activity persists in the coming days, the possibility of explosions greatly increases so that the four-kilometer radius PDZ may be extended accordingly," he added.

UPDATE
Bulusan volcano spewed a column of ash nearly 1.5km into the sky late Tuesday, raising fears of a major eruption. Officials said they were considered increasing the alert level. More earthquakes had been recorded in the area recently, a possible sign that the volcano may be about to erupt more powerfully. The ash column may have been created by a reaction between water and hot materials, a "possible sign of rising magma". A four-km exclusion zone is already in place around the volcano.