Villagers ignore Mayon volcano warning

By staff and wire reports

LEGAZPI, Philippines -- Many villagers living in the shadow of an erupting volcano in the Philippines have started returning home despite warnings from authorities that Sunday's spectacular eruption may not be the last.

After rumbling for five months, the Mayon volcano erupted in fountains of bright red lava and towering clouds of ash as car-sized boulders tumbled down its slopes.

One massive explosion from the volcano -- one of the Philippines most active -- spewed ash more than nine miles (14.5 kilometers) high, with continuous columns of nearly 2,000 feet (600 metres), officials said.

Visibility dropped to near zero within hours as the enormous mushroom cloud began to settle, turning the green landscape gray.

VIDEO CNN's Maria Ressa has more on the reaction of the village residents (June 25) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Kathy Quiano reports on the eruption of Philippines' Mayon volcano (June 24) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES ANALYSIS: A restless giant in a volcanic land      CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

About 23,000 villagers were evacuated overnight, but many returned Monday morning despite warnings from the government, civil defense authorities said.

Airports were closed Monday due to lack of visibility and danger of flying ash and rocks.

"I left because it was making strong noises," said Lorna Azona, who was among hundreds of villagers at an evacuation center Sunday in the provincial capital Legazpi. "The lava flow was getting strong."

Depending on lava flow, as many as 60,000 could be forced to evacuate to Legazpi, said Jason Aragon, officer in charge of the evacuation. He said an elderly woman died of a heart attack during the evacuation but no other injuries were reported.

With the threat of rain remaining in the wake of a tropical storm, concerns rose over the possibility of flows of mud and ash like those that buried a town and killed 1,200 people in the volcano's worst known eruption in 1814.

The southeast portion of the crater showed visible signs of weakening Sunday and may give way in days, sending more lava down the slope of the volcano, scientists said.

Eduardo Laguerta, resident vulcanologist, said a lava dome about 100 feet wide had formed on the crater.

Collapsed domes have continuously been expelling rocks and pyroclastic flows -- superheated clouds of volcanic ash that travel down a volcano's slopes at up to 50 mph -- which instantly incinerate anything in their path.

Audible explosions shook the ground more than eight miles away as officials were preparing emergency shelters and evacuation plans, said emergency coordinator Cedric Dive.

The 8,118-foot Mayon, a well-known tourist attraction because of its near-perfect conical shape, began acting up in January, but had been at alert level 3 -- of a possible 5 -- for weeks.

After a brief 160-foot fountain of lava late Saturday, authorities raised the alert to 4, then quickly put it at 5 early Sunday afternoon, meaning an eruption was in progress.

The volcano could spit lava and red-hot boulders for several days or even weeks, said Raymundo Punongbayan, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Mayon, 200 miles southeast of Manila, towers over farming communities in the Bicol region. The Philippines is in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," with frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.