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LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP) - The flow of lava and rock fragments from Mayon volcano southeast of the Philippine capital has picked up, scientists said Sunday, increasing the possibility of a violent eruption soon.
The 8,118-foot-high mountain, famous for its near-perfect cone, started spilling lava and debris on Friday in what some volcanologists said was the beginning of a silent eruption.
But volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said Mayon's lava extrusion rate increased Saturday, and that more tremors associated with the falling rock fragments have been recorded, suggesting old magma from the depth of the volcano is being pushed to the surface.
``With this development, we are now closely watching Mayon volcano,'' Laguerta said Sunday. ``These developments in the behavior right now would mean that the possibility is that the eruption would be coming nearer.''
He said volcanologists were waiting for other signs, like lava shooting in the air and more tremors. The increase in seismic activity itself did not warrant raising the alert level from two notches below the highest.
Officials have estimated a hazardous eruption could happen within weeks.
Authorities extended a 3.7-mile danger zone around the peak of the volcano to four miles on the southeastern slope, where most of the lava and other debris has been rolling down.
On the streets of Legazpi city, the capital of Albay province near the volcano, about 210 miles southeast of Manila, residents watched boulders and other debris cascading from the crater, raising brownish-gray clouds of dust.
Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79.
An eruption warning system is already in place for the quick evacuation of nearby communities, and radio stations have been told to broadcast emergency calls, said Jukes Nunez, an operations officer with the provincial disaster officer.
The Philippines is in the Pacific ``Ring of Fire,'' where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.
In 1991, Mount Pinatubo exploded in the northern Philippines in one of the world's biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people.
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