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Residents on Alert Near Philippine Mayon Volcano

LEGAZPI, Philippines (Reuters) - Philippine vulcanologists warned residents living on the slopes of the restive Mayon volcano on Thursday to be prepared to evacuate, saying the volcano was in a state of mild eruption.

"At present, Mayon volcano is in a mild state of eruption as magma slowly intrudes the summit, subsequently pushing out recent and hot lavas," the Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology said in a bulletin.

"Residents around the volcano... should always be vigilant and prepared to move out of their areas as soon as evacuation is advised or when life-threatening volcanic flows start to descend from the volcano's summit."

The institute said it was maintaining alert level three around the 8,000-foot high volcano, which is in Albay province, 205 miles southeast of Manila.

There are two higher levels of alert, with Alert Five signifying an eruption is in progress.

Disaster officials said some 20 army trucks had been on standby since last week to evacuate residents should Mayon erupt.

Mayon, one of the country's 22 active volcanoes, has a history of violent eruptions. The deadliest occurred in 1814 when it buried a town under mud and rocks, killing 1,200 people.

Mayon has been periodically spewing magma or molten rocks which has turned into "lava dome" at the volcano's mouth.

The institute said it had monitored over 100 short-duration tremors around the volcano over the previous 24 hours, triggered by "the intermittent rolling of incandescent volcanic materials and numerous lava avalanches."

The institute said detached fragments from the lava dome had cascaded over the previous 24 hours. Mayon had emitted white steam up to a height of 1,640 feet, it added.

The institute said a 3.7 mile radius from around the crater must remain a no-man's land in case of sudden explosions.

"In addition, more voluminous avalanches may affect the southeast slope as the summit dome progressively becomes unstable," it said. "Another possibility is the detachment of a major chunk or portion of the dome."

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