Mayon

Lore & Background

Mayon is the main landmark and highest point of Albay province, rising 2,463 m from the shores of Albay Gulf. Its symmetric conical shape results from a balance between erosion and eruption, with steep upper slopes averaging a 75% gradient. The volcano's crater is about 250 m in diameter, and at least 85 lava flows have been identified, mainly composed of augite-hypersthene-andesite. Seven cinder cones, including Ligñon Hill and Paulog Cinder Cone, surround the lower slopes.

Mayon is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Bicol Arc, related to the westward subduction of the Philippine Plate along the Philippine Trench. Its recorded eruptions date back to 1616, with the earliest radiocarbon-dated eruption around 3100 BCE ± 300 years. The most destructive eruption occurred on February 1, 1814, burying the town of Cagsawa under 9 m of ash and killing about 1,200 people. The 1897 eruption lasted seven days, burying Bacacay under 15 m of lava and killing over 400 people.

In 1984, no casualties were recorded after over 73,000 people were evacuated. However, in 1993, pyroclastic flows killed 79 farmers. The 2000 eruption displaced 14,114 families and damaged at least ₱89-million worth of property. In August 2021, soils from Mayon were found to contain bacterial species with potential antibiotic and anti-cancer properties.

Reader's Guide

Mayon Volcano holds significant geological and cultural importance in the Philippines. As the most active volcano in the country, its eruptions have shaped both the landscape and the history of the Bicol Region. The 1814 eruption, which buried Cagsawa town and killed about 1,200 people, is considered the most lethal in Mayon's history and may have contributed to the Year Without a Summer in 1816 alongside other volcanic eruptions. The volcano's activity is closely monitored by PHIVOLCS from Ligñon Hill, about 12 km from the summit, enabling timely evacuations that saved thousands during the 1984 eruption.

Ecologically, Mayon is the centerpiece of the Albay Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO in 2016, and is currently nominated as a World Heritage Site. Recent scientific discoveries, such as novel Streptomyces bacteria with antibiotic and anti-cancer properties found in its soils in 2021, highlight its potential for biomedical research. The volcano's perfect cone and sacred status in Philippine mythology make it a popular tourist destination and a symbol of the region. Its designation as the first national park in the Philippines on July 20, 1938, underscores its national significance.

Did You Know?

• Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, erupting over 52 times in the past 500 years.
• The 1814 eruption buried the town of Cagsawa under 9 m of ash, killing about 1,200 people.
• In August 2021, soils from Mayon were found to contain a novel Streptomyces species with antibiotic and anti-cancer properties.
• Mayon was declared a national park on July 20, 1938, but it was not the first—Mount Arayat National Park, established in 1933, holds that title.

The Perfect Cone and Its Political Geography

Mayon rises 2,463 meters from the shores of Albay Gulf, sitting roughly ten kilometers from the water. It is the highest point in both Albay province and the entire Bicol Region. What makes it visually iconic is its near-perfect conical symmetry, a shape that has earned it the nickname "perfect cone" and made it a beloved tourist destination. The volcano's concave profile follows a hyperbolic sine curve, a result of the ongoing balance between erosion and eruption, governed by the angle of repose of volcanic ash. The upper slopes average a steep 75 percent gradient while the lower foot slope eases to just 3 percent. The crater itself measures roughly 250 meters across. Politically, the cone is divided among eight municipalities — Legazpi, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao, Tabaco, Malilipot, and Santo Domingo — which slice the mountain like wedges of a pie when viewed on a map. Surrounding cinder cones, including Ligñon Hill to the southeast and Paulog Cinder Cone to the west, add further texture to the volcanic landscape.

Tectonic Setting and Volcanic Composition

Mayon sits on the southeast side of Luzon, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. More specifically, it belongs to the Bicol Arc, one of seven oceanic trench subduction zones that define the Philippine Mobile Belt. The volcanism here is driven by the westward subduction of the Philippine Plate along the Philippine Trench. The arc contains twelve active and inactive volcanoes, including Mount Bulusan, Mount Isarog, Mount Iriga, Malinao, and Mount Masaraga. Mayon itself is a classic stratovolcano with a small central summit crater, and at least 85 distinct lava flows have been identified across its slopes. The erupted material is predominantly augite-hypersthene-andesite, generally fed from the crater. Pyroclastic flows, described as a St. Vincent nuée ardente, deposit blocks and ash along with breadcrust bombs in a matrix of ash and lapilli. The farthest identified flow traveled 8.5 kilometers along the Fidel Surtida area of Santo Domingo. The broader volcanic products across the Bicol Arc span calc-alkali basalts, basaltic andesites, and andesites, while Mayon's own eruptive samples cover most of the sodium-potassium oxide composition range of andesite basalts, including trachydacite, though not trachyte.

Eruptions and Human Devastation

Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, with over 52 eruptions recorded in the past 500 years. The first historical observation dates to 1616, while radiocarbon dating pushes the earliest eruption back to approximately 3100 BCE. The most devastating event in its recorded history struck on February 1, 1814, reaching VEI 4. Dark ash belched from the summit, and tephra buried the town of Cagsawa, killing roughly 1,200 residents — the deadliest eruption attributed to Mayon according to PHIVOLCS. Ash accumulated to depths of 9 meters in nearby areas, trees burned, and rivers were damaged. This eruption is also believed to have contributed to the atmospheric ash load that, combined with Indonesia's catastrophic 1815 Mount Tambora eruption, produced the Year Without a Summer in 1816. A later, prolonged eruption from July 1881 to August 1882 (VEI 3) was witnessed by naturalist Samuel Kneeland on Christmas Day 1881, who described a continuous stream of lava pouring from the summit for five months, illuminating more than half the mountain's height in glowing waves. The volcano's longest uninterrupted eruption began on June 23, 1897.

Ecological Discovery and Scientific Significance

Beyond its geological drama, Mayon has become a site of unexpected biological discovery. In August 2021, researchers identified bacterial species in Mayon's soils that showed potential antibiotic and anti-cancer properties. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed a novel species within the genus Streptomyces, and laboratory studies demonstrated its ability to inhibit a range of human pathogens, including Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, and Fusarium. The same organism also showed activity against HCT116 cells from a human colorectal cancer cell line. Separately, Japanese research has suggested that the extremely thermophilic bacterium Calditerricola is present in volcanic ash samples from both Mayon and Mount Sakurajima in Japan, hinting at shared extremophilic microbial communities across Pacific volcanic environments. These findings position the volcano not merely as a geological landmark but as a living laboratory for microbiology and potential pharmaceutical research.