Mt. Mayon, Albay, Philippines

By James Barcelona

Tourist Attractions
Mayon Volcano (Tagalog: Bulkang Mayon, Central Bikol: Bulkan Mayon), also known as Mount Mayon, is an active volcano in the province of Albay, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Renowned as the "perfect cone" because of its almost symmetric conical shape, the mountain was declared a national park and a protected landscape on July 20, 1938, the first in the country. It was reclassified a Natural Park and renamed Mayon Volcano Natural Park in the year 2000.

Local folklore refers to the volcano being named after the legendary heroine Daragang Magayon (English: Beautiful Lady).

Location

Mayon Volcano is the main landmark of Albay Province, Philippines, rising 2,462 metres (8,077 ft) from the shores of the Gulf of Albay about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. The volcano is geographically shared by the eight cities and municipalities of Legazpi, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao, Tabaco, Malilipot, and Santo Domingo (clockwise from Legazpi), which divide the cone like slices of a pie when viewed from above.

Geomorphology

Mayon is a classic stratovolcano(composite) type of volcano capped by a small central summit crater. The cone is considered the world's most perfectly formed volcano for its symmetry, which was formed through layers of pyroclastic and lava flows from past eruptions and erosion. The upper slopes of the basaltic-andesitic volcano are steep averaging 35–40 degrees.

Like other volcanoes located around the Pacific Ocean, Mayon is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is located on the eastern side of Luzon, near the Philippine Trench which is the convergent boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is driven under the Philippine Mobile Belt. When a continental plate or belt of continental fragments meets an oceanic plate, the lighter continental material overrides the oceanic plate, forcing it down into the Earth's mantle. Magma may be forced through weaknesses in the continental crust caused by the collision of the tectonic plates. One such exit point is Mayon.

Recorded Eruptions

Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines having erupted over 49 times in the past 400 years. The first record of a major eruption was witnessed in February 1616 by Dutch explorer Joris van Spilbergen who recorded it on his log in his circumnavigation trip around the world. The first eruption of which there is an extended account was the six-day event of July 20, 1766, 1766, 1800, 1811(?), 1814, 1827, 1834, 1839, 1845, 1846, 1851, 1853, 1855, 1857, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863(?), 1868, 1871-72, 1872, 1873, 1876, 1876, 1881-82, 1885, 1886-87, 1888, 1890, 1891-92, 1893, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1900, 1902(?), 1928, 1928, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1968, 1978, 1984, 1993, 1999-2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2003(?), 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014.