NEGROS ISLAND — Kanlaon Volcano is once again drawing attention after monitoring cameras captured a superheated plume rising from its summit crater late Friday night, adding another visible sign that one of the Philippines’ most closely watched active volcanoes remains restless.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said the activity was recorded between 11:05 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 21, according to footage released by the agency and reported by GMA News on Saturday morning.
But the more important story may be what monitoring instruments were detecting around the same period.
PHIVOLCS recorded eight volcanic earthquakes during the 24-hour monitoring period ending at midnight Saturday. Kanlaon also released an average of 2,092 tonnes of sulfur dioxide per day, while moderate plumes climbed roughly 100 meters above the crater before drifting generally east and southwest.
Kanlaon remains under Alert Level 2, meaning the volcano is experiencing a state of moderate unrest.
PHIVOLCS continues to prohibit entry into the four-kilometer-radius Permanent Danger Zone, warning that sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions remain possible. Aircraft are likewise advised to stay away from the summit because volcanic activity can occur with little warning.
What does a “superheated plume” actually mean?
The phrase can sound alarming, but scientists have previously cautioned against interpreting it by itself as proof that a major eruption is about to happen.
PHIVOLCS volcanologists explained earlier this year that superheated gas emissions have repeatedly been detected at Kanlaon, particularly by heat-sensitive infrared cameras at night. Such emissions indicate heat and continuing magmatic activity beneath the volcano, but they need to be evaluated together with seismic activity, sulfur dioxide emissions, ground deformation and other monitoring parameters.
Volcanologists have also noted that similar superheated emissions were observed ahead of some previous explosive events at Kanlaon. That makes the phenomenon significant enough to monitor closely, but it is not, on its own, a reliable countdown to an eruption.
That distinction matters because Kanlaon has demonstrated repeatedly that its behavior can change quickly.
Kanlaon has already produced explosive activity in 2026
The volcano’s current unrest comes after months of intermittent ash emissions, elevated gas release, volcanic earthquakes and several explosive episodes.
On July 9, PHIVOLCS recorded a moderately explosive eruption lasting about three minutes. The eruption produced a dense grayish ash column estimated at two to three kilometers above the summit, while pyroclastic density currents moved at least one kilometer down portions of the volcano’s upper southeastern slopes. Reports also documented ballistic rock fragments reaching populated areas several kilometers from the crater.
During the following July monitoring period, PHIVOLCS continued to record volcanic earthquakes, tremor episodes, sulfur dioxide emissions and volcanic plumes while maintaining Alert Level 2.
More recently, Kanlaon produced another ash emission in mid-August. Inquirer reported that an emission observed on August 13 generated a plume reaching around 200 meters above the summit, underscoring that ash and gas releases have continued even without an escalation of the official alert level.
Data compiled by the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program from PHIVOLCS reports also showed that during August 6 to 11, Kanlaon was registering between one and five volcanic earthquakes per day, while sulfur dioxide emissions fluctuated between 651 and 1,568 tonnes per day. Ground deformation measurements continued to show inflation accompanied by shorter-term deflation.
Against that background, Friday’s reported sulfur dioxide output of 2,092 tonnes per day represents another monitoring figure authorities will be watching closely rather than an isolated spectacle in a nighttime camera feed.
Why communities around Kanlaon cannot afford to ignore Alert Level 2
Kanlaon straddles Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, placing communities on both sides of the volcano within reach of hazards that can develop rapidly.
The four-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone exists because even relatively short explosive events can produce falling rocks, ash, hot gases and other hazardous volcanic material around the summit.
Past eruptions have also demonstrated the risk posed by pyroclastic density currents, extremely hot mixtures of volcanic gas, ash and fragmented rock capable of moving rapidly down a volcano’s slopes.
Kanlaon’s February 2026 explosive activity, for example, produced ballistic fragments, pyroclastic density currents and widespread ash dispersal across parts of the Negros Island Region. PHIVOLCS said that eruption occurred after relatively subdued seismic and gas activity, illustrating why volcanic conditions cannot be judged from earthquake numbers alone.
That history is particularly important now.
A glowing or superheated-looking plume can dominate social media because of its dramatic appearance. But for scientists, the bigger picture is found in the combination of earthquakes, gas emissions, deformation, ash activity and changes beneath the crater.
And at Kanlaon, those instruments continue to show that the volcano is not back to normal.
For residents surrounding the volcano, the message remains straightforward: Alert Level 2 is not an evacuation order for every nearby community, but neither does it mean the danger has passed.
PHIVOLCS continues to urge the public to stay outside the Permanent Danger Zone, avoid spreading unverified eruption claims and rely on official monitoring updates because sudden steam-driven explosions and further magmatic activity remain possible.
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