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 Sunday, compared to just over 200 Saturday, said Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The volcano has already belched a plume of grayish ash half a mile (nearly a kilometer) into the sky, and red-hot lava has flowed about 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) down the mountainside, he said.
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