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Manila: Hot and searing pyroclastic flows accompanied by unabated lava have left coconut plantations brown and dry, creating a wide swathe of ghost land near the summit of Mayon volcano, experts told Gulf News.
A view from the observation tower of the Philippine Institute of Vocalnology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Lignon Hill in Legazpi City is a "sorry site of burned coconut plantation, estimated at 10 hectare," said Ernesto Corpus of Phivolcs in a phone interview.
"The burned area which is now smelling of noxious sulphur could be wider, at 60 hectares if the back part of the mountain that I am looking at is also full of lava flow," Corpus explained.
"The most affected areas are the coconut plantations in Matinit town," said Corpus.
"It will take Mayon's lava flows a week to reach seven kilometres from the summit," said Corpus, adding that the thick and heavy lava flow has been moving at less than 50 kilometres per day.
Lava has been stationed at 6.7 kilometres from Mayon's top. Lava flows started coming out from the restive volcano a month ago.
To many tourists who have flocked to Legazpi City, Mayon's 2,462-metre tall perfect cone has been very gray at the top, with smoke emanating from wide deposits of hot lava flows.
"We will know the final dimension of the area that is disfigured and burned around Mayon only after its major eruption. That can be done from a helicopter," explained Corpus.
"Farm lands buried by ash falls, pyroclastic flows and lava flows, will remain barren for several years. But they will be fertile again once they heal and become ready for planting," explained Ed Laguerta, a volcano expert also based around Mayon.
"Right now, it will take years for the affected areas to harden, and more years for the earth underneath to allow planting," Laguerta added.
Meanwhile, four explosions shook Mayon on Tuesday, said Phivolcs, adding that brief cloud breaks indicated fresh ash falls on the upslope gullies of the volcano's east andnortheast side.
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