Mass evacuations as volcano threatens

THE Philippines’s mostactive volcano could erupt within days, officials warned yesterday after detecting a drastic surge in earthquakes and eerie rumbling sounds in surrounding foothills.

Tens of thousands of villagers have been evacuated as a precaution.

Scientists raised the alert level for the Mayon volcano to one step below a major eruption after 453 volcanic earthquakes were detected in a five-hour span yesterday, compared with just over 200 on Saturday, said Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.