Kanlaon ash emissions shut Canlaon City schools; Alert Level 2 up

CANLAON CITY, Negros Oriental — Classes at all levels here were suspended starting noon Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, as Kanlaon Volcano continued to emit ash from its summit crater, city officials said.

Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas ordered the suspension through Executive Order No. 80, covering all public and private schools until further notice. The order applies to face-to-face classes and to school activities requiring physical presence.

Cardenas said ashfall “may cause respiratory irritation, reduced visibility, poor air quality, and hazardous conditions.”

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded two ash emissions lasting 33 to 112 minutes over the 24 hours to Monday morning, along with three volcanic earthquakes. Sulfur dioxide emission averaged 1,244 tonnes per day, and a moderate plume rose about 200 meters above the crater before drifting southeast.

The most recent emission on Sunday occurred at 5:28 p.m., PHIVOLCS said.

“The event generated a grayish plume that rose 150 meters above the summit crater before drifting southeast, as visually recorded by the Kanlaon Volcano Observatory–Canlaon City (KVO-CC),” the agency said.

An earlier emission the same day, at 1:12 p.m., produced a plume of the same height that strong winds carried southeast.

Volcanologists had earlier logged five ash emissions lasting 17 to 294 minutes and two volcanic earthquakes on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, when sulfur dioxide emission reached about 2,020 tonnes per day.

Ground deformation data continue to show inflation of the volcanic edifice over the long term, with short-term deflation, indicating sustained pressure from magma beneath the summit.

Alert Level 2 remains in effect over Kanlaon. Under that status, sudden steam-driven or phreatic eruptions and signs of impending magmatic activity are possible. Entry into the four-kilometer-radius Permanent Danger Zone is prohibited, and aircraft are barred from flying close to the summit.

Kanlaon has been in continuous unrest since its June 2024 eruption, and PHIVOLCS has kept the volcano at Alert Level 2 since July 29, 2025.

A moderately explosive eruption on the night of Feb. 26, 2026, hurled incandescent fragments 1.5 kilometers from the crater and generated pyroclastic density currents that set fires on the upper southern and southeastern slopes. Ashfall from that event reached 121 barangays across 15 local government units in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.

A second eruption on July 9, 2026, sent an ash plume two to three kilometers above the summit and carried ashfall as far as Cebu, canceling flights and suspending classes. In Canlaon City, ash covered 10 barangays and displaced eight families, or 23 people.

Kanlaon, at 2,422 meters, is the highest point on Negros Island and one of the country’s most active volcanoes.