LEGASPI, Philippines – The Philippines’ most active volcano shot ash into the sky Wednesday as officials tried to bring Christmas cheer to tens of thousands of people fleeing a possible major eruption.
Mount Mayon’s kilometre-high (half-mile) column alarmed residents and officials, who have been bracing for a major explosion since last week, when the volcano started oozing lava and belching steam and ash. Facts: Philippine volcanoes
“This is going to be a very sad Christmas,” said 36-year-old Violeta Abejoro, one of over 47,000 people who have fled Mayon’s foothills after the volcano began angrily spewing ash, smoke and lava last week.
“I can’t get them to stop crying,” the frustrated mother said of her five children, the youngest of whom is barely a year old and has colic.
At the evacuation camps, military and police personnel with Santa hats tried to coax carols from the children, who were transfixed by the eerie scene of a thick ash cloud trailing from Mayon’s peak. Scene: Sad Christmas for evacuees
Other children scrambled to fall in line after after being promised ice cream cones and other Christmas treats.
Head volcanologist Renato Solidum said Mayon’s increasing seismic activity could be a sign of a major eruption but was not enough to warrant raising the alert level to the highest level on a five-point scale.
(more…)
How safe is the water that flows out of your tap? The answer very much depends on where you live. 
