Almost daily mild ejection of ash-laden steam clouds characterized activity from 2 April until late in the month. The clouds rose 100-1,500 m above the summit. On 4, 5, 15, 17, and 22 April, light ashfalls took place on villages as much as 8 km from the crater in the volcano's NW and SW quadrants. Activity was sometimes accompanied by volcanic earthquakes, including B-type events at 1243 on 2 April and 0722, 0950, 1007, and 1627 on 4 April, and by hissing sounds.

At 1950 on 29 April, Bulusan erupted a series of dark, cauliflower-shaped ash clouds, forming a column that reached 3-4 km above the summit. About 2.5 mm of ash fell on SW flank villages. Hissing and intermittent rumbling sounds were heard during the ash ejection. The 29 April activity was preceded by about three days of increased seismicity, when seismographs recorded 170 volcanic earthquakes. Two of these were felt at intensity I on the Rossi-Forel scale at a COMVOL station.

Geological Summary. Luzon's southernmost volcano, Bulusan, was constructed along the rim of the 11-km-diameter dacitic-to-rhyolitic Irosin caldera, which was formed about 36,000 years ago. It lies at the SE end of the Bicol volcanic arc occupying the peninsula of the same name that forms the elongated SE tip of Luzon. A broad, flat moat is located below the topographically prominent SW rim of Irosin caldera; the NE rim is buried by the andesitic complex. Bulusan is flanked by several other large intracaldera lava domes and cones, including the prominent Mount Jormajan lava dome on the SW flank and Sharp Peak to the NE. The summit is unvegetated and contains a 300-m-wide, 50-m-deep crater. Three small craters are located on the SE flank. Many moderate explosive eruptions have been recorded since the mid-19th century.

Information Contacts: O. Peña, COMVOL, Quezon City.