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Report on Kanlaon (Philippines) — June 1978


Kanlaon

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 6 (June 1978)
Managing Editor: David Squires.

Kanlaon (Philippines) Twenty-minute ash eruption

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1978. Report on Kanlaon (Philippines) (Squires, D., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 3:6. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN197806-272020



Kanlaon

Philippines

10.412°N, 123.132°E; summit elev. 2435 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


A brief ash eruption began at [0610] on 27 June. A grayish eruption column rose [~1,500 m] above the summit before being blown S by strong prevailing winds. Ash fell on S-flank villages within 8 km of the summit. The eruption ended after about 20 minutes, and was succeeded by voluminous but low-pressure emission of white vapor.

Geological Summary. Kanlaon volcano (also spelled Canlaon) forms the highest point on the island of Negros, Philippines. The massive andesitic stratovolcano is covered with fissure-controlled pyroclastic cones and craters, many of which are filled by lakes. The largest debris avalanche known in the Philippines traveled 33 km SW from Kanlaon. The summit contains a 2-km-wide, elongated northern caldera with a crater lake and a smaller but higher active vent, Lugud crater, to the south. Eruptions recorded since 1866 have typically consisted of phreatic explosions of small-to-moderate size that produce minor local ashfall.

Information Contacts: G. Andal, Commission on Volcanology (COMVOL), Quezon City.