Thousands of Filipino's warned to flee Philippine volcano zone

Several thousand villagers in the firing line of the Philippines' rumbling Mount Mayon volcano risk forcible evacuation unless they leave the danger zone, officials said Monday.

Scientists warned that powerful booms emanating from the Southeast Asian country's most active volcano were an indication that a massive eruption may be imminent.

The eerie glow of crimson lava could be seen oozing from the volcano overnight, and relief officials said farmers and other residents who have refused to evacuate also faced the danger of volcanic ashflow.

"We will personally remove the residents who refuse to evacuate to their designated evacuation centres," Albay provincial Governor Joey Salceda said after volcanologists raised the alert level to four on a five-point scale.

Giving new figures, Salceda said that roughly 1,300 families were still in their homes within an eight-kilometre (five-mile) danger zone declared around Mayon. As a rule of thumb, officials said each family averages five people.

About 8,600 families have already taken shelter in government centres beyond the zone mandated around the 2,460 metre (8,070 foot) volcano.

The hold-outs include many villagers who do not want to leave their farms and livestock behind, officials said.

But scientists underlined the growing threat of ash and lava cascading down Mayon's slopes owing to the increasing frequency of booms from inside the volcano, audible as far as 12 kilometres away.

"We cannot say exactly when the hazardous eruption is likely to occur," chief government volcanologist Renato Solidum said in a television interview.

But he stressed: "The important thing is the distance from the volcano. That is why it is important that people not be inside the danger zone."

When Mayon last erupted in 2006, it oozed lava and vented steam for months. No one was killed by the eruption itself.

But three months later, a powerful typhoon dislodged tons of volcanic debris that had collected on Mayon's slopes. The avalanche of mud and boulders crushed entire villages, leaving more than 1,000 people dead.

Mayon, renowned for its near-perfect cone, has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.