A volcano briefly¹ erupted in the central Philippines on Monday, sending a huge ash column high into the sky as the government ordered the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from surrounding villages. Rising more than 8,000 feet above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon is one of 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines.

A nearly four-minute eruption² Monday afternoon sending a 2.5-mile ash column above the crater³ and a deadly spurt⁴ of hot ash, gases and fragmented volcanic⁵ rock about 2 miles down the mountain's southeast flank. The nation's volcano alert level was raised, indicating more explosive eruptions⁶ could still follow.

There were no reported casualties from Monday's eruption, but volcanic ash fell across a wide area, including in Antique province, some 120 miles across the sea to the west of the volcano. The ash cloud obscured visibility and created a potential health risk.

"Getting hit by these pyroclastic density⁷ currents is like being run over by a high-speed vehicle," said Maria Antonia Bornas, volcano monitoring chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

"If the ash enters your lungs it would cause asphyxiation," she said, urging local officials to evacuate⁸ 15 villages within six kilometres of the crater.

She said ash from the eruption rained down on several nearby towns and cities around the volcano and warned heavy rain could dislodge the fresh volcanic sediment⁹ from the latest eruption, which could bury communities below.