Stay Safe Daily Emergency numbers

Volcanic eruptions: what to do before, during and after

Stay out of the danger zone PHIVOLCS has drawn, and treat ashfall as the part that reaches you: cover your nose and mouth, close the house up, and get ash off the roof before it rains.

By Hamza Rivera, updated

Short answer: PHIVOLCS rates a volcano on alert levels 0 to 5, and from level 1 entry into the Permanent Danger Zone is to be prohibited. Farther out, most households deal with ash, and thick ash piled on a roof can bring it down, especially after rain. The danger zone distance is set volcano by volcano, so read the current PHIVOLCS bulletin.

Written for the Philippines. In an emergency here, the number is 911.

Two different things happen in an eruption and they reach different distances. Close in there is a danger zone that PHIVOLCS draws and the local government enforces. Much further out there is ash, which is what most households actually deal with, and which can bring a roof down when thick ash piles up on it, especially after rain.

See the emergency numbers

The six alert levels, and where entry stops being allowed

The bars rise with the alert level, but the scale is ordinal: level 3 is not three times level 1, and the heights are a ranking rather than a measurement. What the drawing shows is where PHIVOLCS stops permitting entry, which is from level 1 onwards, and that PHIVOLCS warns explosions, rockfalls and landslides can happen suddenly inside the Permanent Danger Zone even at level 0.

Quiet 0 Low unrest 1 Moderate 2 High 3 Imminent 4 Under way 5 PHIVOLCS alert level
  • 0 Quiet, or no alert. Everything monitored is at background levels, and rockfalls can still happen inside the Permanent Danger Zone.
  • 1 Low level of unrest. Entry into the Permanent Danger Zone must be prohibited.
  • 2 Moderate unrest. Magma may be pushing up at depth, and the danger zone may be widened.
  • 3 High level of unrest. Magma is near or at the surface.
  • 4 A hazardous eruption is imminent.
  • 5 A hazardous eruption is under way.
0
Quiet, or no alert. Everything monitored is at background levels, and rockfalls can still happen inside the Permanent Danger Zone.
1
Low level of unrest. Entry into the Permanent Danger Zone must be prohibited.
2
Moderate unrest. Magma may be pushing up at depth, and the danger zone may be widened.
3
High level of unrest. Magma is near or at the surface.
4
A hazardous eruption is imminent.
5
A hazardous eruption is under way.

Source: PHIVOLCS, Volcano Alert Levels. Read 20 September 2026.

PHIVOLCS alert levels

Alert levels run from 0 to 5. The rows below are the scheme PHIVOLCS publishes for Bulusan. Mayon, Kanlaon, Taal and other volcanoes have their own criteria and danger zone distances.
LevelWhat it meansWhat PHIVOLCS recommends
0Quiet, or no alert. Everything monitored is at background levels.No eruption foreseen. Explosions, rockfalls and landslides can still happen suddenly inside the Permanent Danger Zone.
1Low level of unrest. Slightly more volcanic earthquakes and steam, hot springs warming, the slope swelling a little.Entry into the Permanent Danger Zone must be prohibited.
2Moderate unrest. Raised earthquake, gas or deformation readings, intermittent steam and ash explosions.Magma may be pushing up at depth. Entry into the Permanent Danger Zone must be prohibited, and the danger zone may be widened.
3High unrest. Sustained earthquakes, tremor, rumbling, forceful ash ejections, possibly dome growth or lava.Magma is near or at the surface and a hazardous eruption is possible within weeks. Danger zones may be expanded.
4Hazardous eruption imminent. Earthquake swarms and tremor, many of them felt. Frequent strong ash explosions, dome growth or lava flow.Magmatic processes or an effusive eruption are under way, which can progress into a highly hazardous eruption. The danger zone may be extended to nine kilometres or more from the active crater.
5Hazardous eruption in progress. Tall ash columns, or the summit dome collapsing, with pyroclastic flows, surges and widespread ashfall.A life-threatening eruption. Further danger areas may be declared as it goes on.

The radius of a danger zone is not the same for every volcano, and it changes as the alert level changes. The number that matters is the one in the current PHIVOLCS bulletin for your volcano, not a figure remembered from the last eruption. The table above is the scheme as PHIVOLCS publishes it for Bulusan; the criteria and the distances are set volcano by volcano.

Source: PHIVOLCS, Volcano Alert Levels. Read 20 September 2026.

Volcanic eruptions: the three parts of this guide

Each part below carries its own steps and names the agency they came from. The phase you need is usually the one you are already in.

Before: 4 steps During: 9 steps After: 6 steps
Before: 4 steps
When an eruption looks likely and ash could reach you.
During: 9 steps
Stay calm.
After: 6 steps
Clearing ash badly spreads it. The guide is specific about method.

Before

When an eruption looks likely and ash could reach you.

  1. Find out whether your home is inside the Permanent Danger Zone of your volcano. In the PHIVOLCS alert table above, entry into the Permanent Danger Zone must be prohibited from alert level 1, and the zone may be widened from level 2. Its radius for your volcano is in the current PHIVOLCS bulletin.
  2. Listen to the radio for updates.
  3. Put a mask or clean cloth, candles, matches, torches and spare batteries somewhere you can reach. PHIVOLCS names each of these.
  4. Pack a bag for evacuating. The PHIVOLCS evacuation poster draws twelve things ready on a table: water, food, clothes, a first aid kit, a radio, a flashlight, batteries, candles and matches, a dust mask, a handkerchief, safety goggles, and a bag to carry them in.

Source: PHIVOLCS, What to do Before, During and After an Ashfall (DOST-PHIVOLCS, printed with support from DOST-GIA). Read 20 September 2026.

Source: PHIVOLCS, Mga Gikinahanglan nga Pangandam sa Pagbakwit, MIAVITA Project evacuation poster (Cebuano) (printed August 2011). Read 1 October 2026. Listed on that page as "MIAVITA Project - Before Ashfall Pag evacuate". The twelve items are the labels on its drawing.

During

Stay calm.

  1. Cover your nose and mouth with a damp clean cloth or a mask.
  2. As soon as the ashfall eases, scrape the ash off the roof. PHIVOLCS says thick ash on a roof, especially when rained on, could make it collapse.
  3. Keep the radio on for updates on the eruption.
  4. Close all the windows and doors of the house and the car.
  5. Keep pets in their shelter or inside, so they do not breathe ash.
  6. Cover water containers and food.
  7. Wash all fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating.
  8. Outdoors: find shelter and wear glasses to protect your eyes. Take contact lenses out.
  9. Driving in heavy ashfall: pull to the side of the road and stop.

Source: PHIVOLCS, What to do Before, During and After an Ashfall (DOST-PHIVOLCS, printed with support from DOST-GIA). Read 20 September 2026.

After

Clearing ash badly spreads it. The guide is specific about method.

  1. Once the ash is off, wash the roof and gutters with water to stop corrosion.
  2. Vacuum or shake ash off furniture before dusting, with your nose and mouth covered.
  3. Hose glass windows, doors and the car before washing them with soap and lukewarm water.
  4. Use powder detergent for clothes that have ash on them.
  5. Shake loose ash off plants before you water them.
  6. Put the collected ash somewhere well away from drainage. Ash washed into a drain clogs it, and the flooding arrives later.

Source: PHIVOLCS, What to do Before, During and After an Ashfall (DOST-PHIVOLCS, printed with support from DOST-GIA). Read 20 September 2026.

Paghahanda sa pagputok ng bulkan

Ito ang gabay ng UNICEF Philippines sa Filipino, sa sarili nitong pananalita. Ang natitirang bahagi ng pahinang ito ay nasa Ingles at galing sa PHIVOLCS.

Bago

  • Maging alerto at handa bago pa man pumutok ang bulkan.
  • Maging updated sa alert level ng bulkan at official warnings ng barangay o LGU.
  • Tiyakin na kumpleto ang laman ng emergency go-bag.
  • Maghanda ng goggles at makapal na face mask para sa buong pamilya.
  • Mag-evacuate kung ang bahay ay nasa loob ng danger zones.

Habang

  • Stay calm. Stay indoors. Isara ang mga pinto at bintana.
  • Kung may abo, magsuot ng goggles. Takpan ang ilong at bibig gamit ang makapal na face mask o mamasa-masang malinis na tela.
  • Turuan ang mga bata kung paano mag-ingat.
  • Huwag hayaang ma-contaminate ng abo ang mga pagkain.
  • Kung nasa biyahe, itabi muna ang sasakyan kapag malakas ang pagbagsak ng abo.
  • Subaybayan ang mga official updates at advisory ng barangay o LGU.

Pagkatapos

  • Kapag tapos na ang pagputok ng bulkan, tiyakin na ligtas pa rin ang lahat.
  • Magsuot pa rin ng goggles at face mask, o mamasa-masang malinis na tela, bago maglinis ng paligid.
  • Tanggalin agad ang abo sa bubong para hindi ito mag-collapse at kalawangin.
  • Walisin o i-vacuum ang abo na nakapasok sa loob ng bahay.
  • Kolektahin ang abo sa isang lugar na malayo sa mga water drainage para hindi ito magbara.
  • Hugasan nang maigi ang mga gulay, prutas at iba pang pagkain bago ito ihanda o kainin.

Source: UNICEF Philippines, Emergency preparedness tips: volcanic eruptions. Read 30 September 2026. UNICEF publishes this page in Filipino. The lines below are its wording, grouped as it groups them, with two obvious typos corrected. The lines are UNICEF’s own Filipino wording. UNICEF’s “basang tela” (wet cloth) is changed to a damp clean cloth, which is what the PHIVOLCS ashfall sheet says, and UNICEF’s line about children helping with the clean-up is left out, as Philippine agencies do not give it.

Ang paghahanda bago dumating ang bagyo, ang lindol at ang pagputok ng bulkan, sa isang papel na puwedeng i-print: paghahanda sa kalamidad.

Measured 30 September 2026 on Ahrefs PH: the Tagalog volcano terms are named volcanoes, school topics and drawings, with no preparedness phrasing at ten searches a month or more. This section is here because UNICEF publishes the guidance in Filipino and this page already carries the same three phases in English.

Why ash is the part that reaches you

PHIVOLCS describes fine volcanic ash as respirable, which is to say small enough to reach the lungs, and links prolonged exposure to pulmo-respiratory disease. The same ash carries soluble salt that harms plants and is acid-bearing enough to corrode metal and wreck an air conditioner, a fridge or a television.

The coarser fragments land near the volcano. The farther out you are, the finer the ash gets.

Source: PHIVOLCS, What to do Before, During and After an Ashfall (DOST-PHIVOLCS, printed with support from DOST-GIA). Read 20 September 2026.

Pack the bag once

Every section above assumes a bag is already packed. There is one list on this site and it covers all four hazards, with UNICEF Philippines named as its source.

Open the go bag checklist

Related guides

Back to all four hazard guides