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Mount Kanlaon on the central island of Negros erupted shortly before 7pm local time, prompting warnings for nearby residents to wear facemasks due to the threat of volcanic gases and falling ash.
“When it erupted, we heard a thunder-like sound,” Ethan Asentista-Khoo, 35, told AFP from his home in Pula village near the volcano.
“There was like a fire on the mouth of the volcano, which lasted around one to two minutes. I didn’t see any lava or rocks coming out.”
The Philippines is located in the seismically active Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ that hosts more than half of the world’s volcanoes.
Kanlaon is one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago nation.
Eruptions can be deadly, with pyroclastic and lahar flows as well as ashfall posing hazards to communities surrounding the volcano.
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