Philippines Raises Alert as Pinatubo Volcano Shows Unrest

FILE PHOTO: A giant volcanic mushroom cloud explodes some 20 kilometers high from Mount Pinatubo above almost deserted US Clark Air Base, on June 12, 1991 followed by another more powerful explosion. (Photo: ARLAN NAEG/AFP via Getty Images) (ARLAN NAEG via Getty Images)

By Cecilia Yap

Philippine seismologists on Thursday raised an alert on the Mount Pinatubo volcano in the main Luzon island.

“There is low-level unrest that may be related to the tectonic processes beneath the volcano,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in an advisory.

While no imminent eruption is foreseen, it advised the public to avoid entry into the crater area.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo erupted after lying dormant for more than 600 years. Since Jan. 20, more than 1,700 earthquakes were recorded beneath its edifice, the agency said.

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