'Ominous quiet' at Mayon volcano

[icymist]

Scientists in the Philippines renewed warnings of a major explosion at the Mount Mayon volcano, describing a sudden period of quiet as "ominous".

A drop in gas emissions and earthquakes sparked fears that the crater had plugged itself, increasing the likelihood of an explosive eruption.

Around 40,000 people have been evacuated from Mayon's slopes and are living in makeshift camps.

The volcano in Albay province began emitting lava on 14 July.

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[whistle]

1. Images and description here...

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pyroclastic_flows_at_Mayon_Volcano.jpg>



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Mayon Volcano is an active volcano in the Philippines on the island of Luzon, in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region. Its almost perfectly-shaped cone is considered by some to be the Philippine equivalent of Mount Fuji in Japan. A few kilometres to the north of the volcano is Legazpi City.

Mayon is classified by volcanologists as a stratovolcano (composite volcano). Its symmetric cone was formed through alternate pyroclastic and lava flows. Mayon is the most active volcano in the country, having erupted over 50 times in the past 400 years. It is located between the Eurasian and the Philippine Plate, at a convergent plate boundary: where a continental plate meets an oceanic plate, the lighter continental plate overrides the oceanic plate, forcing it down; magma is formed where the rock melts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayon_Volcano