Lava flows from the crater of Mount Mayon volcano (Photo: Reuters) Hanoi (VNA) –The Philippine authorities have faced sanitation problems at temporary sheltersaround the erupting Mayon volcano in the central province of Albay.
PresidentRodrigo Duterte flew to Legazpi city, Albay province to assess the disasterzone.
Authoritieshave thrown a nine kilometer no-go zone around the mountain with the vastmajority of those living in its shadow now safely outside that radius.
Al Francis Bichara, AlbayGovernor, said authorities expect the evacuees will need to stay at the campsfor at least a month.
Theofficial cited the lack of toilets at the shelters, where an average of 200people now took turns using one, saying the evacuees need a total of up to1,800 toilets.
The eruption was not over despite arelatively quiet weekend, estimating some 50 million cubic meters of moredebris have the potential to be ejected from the crater in the coming days andweeks.
If cooling lava blocks, the crater gaspressure would build up and cause the magma inside to explode, producingeruption columns far taller than the five-kilometer clouds seen in previousdays.
The 2,460-meter Mayon, aperfect cone rising 330 kilometers southeast of Manila, is one of the country’smost active volcanoes.
Mayon's sporadic eruption,which began on January 13, has affected 54 villages in Albay, displacing nearly 91,000 people as of January 29.
It also killedmore than 1,200 people and buried three towns in 1814.-VNA
VNA
