Hundreds of residents near Mount Kanlaon in the Philippines were ordered to evacuate Tuesday following the volcano’s eruption, which propelled a three-mile tall (five-kilometer) ash column into the sky, leading to the cancellation of dozens of flights.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported that Mount Kanlaon erupted for six minutes on Monday evening, triggering a “strong earthquake.” The agency warned that surrounding villages would be affected by ash fall and a sulfuric odor.
According to the agency’s volcano summary, 43 volcanic earthquakes were recorded in the 24 hours leading up to midnight on Monday.
Images on social media captured an ash cloud rising into the starry night sky, while other photos showed a thick layer of ash covering nearby villages.
Overnight, more than 60 flights from three domestic carriers were canceled, affecting over 5,000 passengers, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. The Bacolod-Silay Airport resumed operations by 11 a.m. on Tuesday, though passengers are expected to experience delays.
The alert level for the volcano was raised to 2 out of a possible 5 early Tuesday, prompting local government officials to mandate the evacuation of all residents within a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) radius of the volcano.
“Go down to your respective evacuation centers, be vigilant, and prepare important things such as water and food,” advised Jose Chubasco Cardenas, mayor of Canlaon City in Negros Oriental province, in a Facebook video.
Located on Negros, the fourth most populous island in the archipelago, Mount Kanlaon is one of the 24 seismically active volcanoes in the country. It spans two provinces and stands as the highest point on the island, with an elevation of 8,086 feet (2,465 meters) above sea level.
The Philippines is part of the Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile (40,000-kilometer) arc of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean, home to more than half of the world’s volcanoes.