<img alt=“Mt.Mayon_tam3rd.jpg” src=“https://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/Mt.Mayon_tam3rd.jpg” width=“273” height=“344” hspace=10px align=“right” border=“0” />A major eruption is expected at the increasingly restless Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, famed for its picturesque cone shape and general propensity to spew lava. It is the most active of 22 volcanoes in the country, having erupted 47 times in the past 323 years, most recently in 2006 (Reuters, Bloomberg).

It seems like authorities are well prepared: media are reporting that a 4-5 mile no-go zone has been imposed, as boiling mud and rocks flows from the crater summit down the volcano’s southeastern slopes. Almost 50,000 people have been evacuated, but farmers are creeping back to take care of their crops and cattle (AFP) .

“There is nothing we can do except to keep taking them out when we find them in the danger zone,” AFP reports Joey Salceda, governor of Albay province where Mayon is located.

The Mayon volcano in 2006/Tomas Tam (via wikipedia)