Philippine volcano rumbles, eruption seen soon

Mayon Volcano, known for its near-perfect cone shape in the coconut-growing central Bicol region, has been spewing ash and burning mud and rocks for more than a week. Officials have evacuated nearly 50,000 residents from around the base of the volcano.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo flew on Wednesday to Albay province where Mayon Volcano is located to inspect the government's disaster preparedness plan. She briefly talked to some of the evacuees and handed out relief goods.

Authorities said they monitored distinct indicators of a hazardous eruption, such as continuous lava flows, rumbling sounds and ash explosions coupled with sulphuric dioxide emission from the volcano.

"We can't exactly predict when the big bang will come, but the volcanic activities are getting more intense from the time we raised the alert level to 4 on Sunday," the state's chief vulcanologist, Renato Solidum, said, adding stronger tremors were felt on Wednesday and gas emissions were increasing.

(...) Level 4 indicates an eruption is imminent and the maximum alert level 5 means a dangerous eruption is underway.