The alert level was raised again today after a volcano erupted in the central Philippines, spewing ash and smoke five kilometres into the sky.

The eruption of Mt Kanlaon , on Negros Island, occurred shortly after 7pm local time and lasted six minutes, the local volcanology agency said. Authorities issued warnings to residents in the area recommending them to wear masks due to the risk of falling volcanic ash and dispersal of fumes.

“When the eruption started, we heard a noise that sounded like thunder,” said Ethan Asentista-Ko, aged 35, from his home in the village of Pula, near the volcano.

“It was as if a fire had broken out in the volcano’s crater, which lasted about one to two minutes,” added this resident, who said he saw “neither lava nor rocks” spewed during the eruption.

The Philippines is located in the Pacific “ring of fire”, which is made up of more than half of the world’s volcanoes. Kanlaon is one of the 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago.

“An eruption (…) produced a massive and incandescent column that rose up to 5,000 metres,” said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, which raised the alert level from 1 to 2 on a five-point scale.

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Joe Alingasa, a rescue services official of the San Carlos municipal government, said authorities intend to evacuate “as soon as possible” about 500 families living near the volcano. “We also brought masks because residents have reported a strong smell of sulphur in the area,” he pointed out.

The Philippines’ strongest volcanic eruption in decades occurred in 1991 in Pinatubo, a hundred kilometres from Manila, and resulted in the deaths of more than 800 people.