{"id":533487,"date":"2026-03-13T10:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533487\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:24:09","slug":"eruption-at-mayon-nasa-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533487\/","title":{"rendered":"Eruption at Mayon – NASA Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

At any given moment, about 20 volcanoes<\/a> on Earth are actively erupting.\u00a0Often among them is\u00a0Mayon<\/a>\u2014the most active volcano in the Philippines. The nearly symmetrical stratovolcano, on Luzon Island near the Albay and Lagonoy gulfs, rises more than 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level.<\/p>\n

Historical records<\/a> indicate Mayon has erupted 65 times in the past 5,000 years, with the latest episode beginning in January 2026. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology<\/a>\u00a0(PHIVOLCS)\u00a0first reported increased rockfalls near the volcano\u2019s summit and inflation of the mountain’s upper slopes.\u00a0On January 6<\/a>, the\u00a0alert level<\/a>\u00a0was increased to three on a five-level scale after lava began flowing from the crater and hot clouds of ash and debris called\u00a0pyroclastic flows<\/a> (also called pyroclastic density currents<\/a>) moved down one side of the mountain.<\/p>\n

The volcano was still puffing and lava flowing on February 26, when the\u00a0OLI<\/a>\u00a0(Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8<\/a> acquired this rare, relatively clear image. The natural-color scene is overlaid with infrared observations to highlight the lava\u2019s heat signature.\u00a0On that day, PHIVOLCS reported volcanic earthquakes, rockfalls, and pyroclastic flows. The longest pyroclastic flow had traveled about 4 kilometers (3 miles) through the Mi-isi Gully on the southeast flank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The level-three alert, which remained in place in March, prompted evacuations within a 6-kilometer (4-mile) radius of the crater, displacing hundreds of families from communities including Tabaco City, Malilpot, and Camalig.\u00a0Past pyroclastic flows have proven extremely destructive, leading to more than 1,000 deaths in\u00a01814<\/a>, at least 400 deaths in 1897,\u00a0and\u00a077 deaths<\/a>\u00a0in 1993.\u00a0More than\u00a073,000 people<\/a>\u00a0were evacuated during an eruption in 1984.<\/p>\n

Sulfur dioxide (SO2)\u00a0emissions\u00a0<\/a>during the current eruption have averaged\u00a02,466 tons per day,\u00a0with a peak of\u00a06,569\u00a0metric tons measured on February 4, 2026.\u00a0That is the highest SO2 emission level for one day in 15 years, the PHIVOLCS announced<\/a> in early February. That was later exceeded on March 6, when SO2 emissions reached as high as 7,633 metric tons<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Multiple NASA satellites have also monitored the volcano\u2019s sulfur dioxide emissions, showing sizable plumes of the gas drifting southwest on February 4<\/a> and March 6<\/a>.\u00a0The Philippine volcanology institute reported a peak in other activity on February 8 and 9<\/a>, with 469 rockfalls, 12 major pyroclastic flows, and ashfall in the municipalities of Camalig and Guinobatan.<\/p>\n

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the\u00a0U.S. Geological Survey<\/a>. Story by Adam Voiland.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"The\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Chan, H. & Konstantinou, K. (2020) Multiscale and multitemporal surface temperature monitoring by satellite thermal infrared imagery at Mayon Volcano, Philippines.<\/a> Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 401, 106976.<\/p>\n

Global Volcanism Program (2026) Mayon<\/a>. Accessed March 12, 2026. \u00a0<\/p>\n

GMA News Online (2026, January 6) Six Albay towns evacuate residents amid Mayon Volcano Alert Level 3 status<\/a>. Accessed March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

NASA Earthdata (2023, January 25) Monitoring Volcanic Sulfur Dioxide Emissions<\/a>. Accessed March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

NASA Earth Observatory (2009, December 15) Mayon Volcano Threatens Major Eruption<\/a>. Accessed March 12, 2026. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n

PHIVOLCS (2026, March 12) Latest volcano bulletins, advisories, updates & other issuances, or archived issuances<\/a>. Accessed March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

PHIVOLCS (2026, February 10) Mayon Volcano Eruption Update<\/a>. Accessed March 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

Ruth, D.C.S. & Costa, F. (2021) A petrological and conceptual model of Mayon volcano (Philippines) as an example of an open-vent volcano<\/a>. Bulletin of Volcanology, 83(62).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At any given moment, about 20 volcanoes on Earth are actively erupting.\u00a0Often among them is\u00a0Mayon\u2014the most active volcano…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,1677,143020,176368,10594,66,306,72253],"class_list":["post-533487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-earth","tag-earth-observatory","tag-landsat-8-ldcm-landsat-data-continuity-mission","tag-natural-disasters","tag-science","tag-space","tag-volcanoes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}