MANILA, May 13 — A volcano in the central Philippines erupted early Tuesday morning, sending a massive grey plume of ash about three kilometres into the sky and launching ballistic projectiles.

Kanlaon Volcano, one of 24 active volcanoes in the Southeast Asian nation, has experienced several eruptions in the past century — the most recent of which occurred last month.

A level three alert — on a scale of five — remained in place from an eruption in December, as officials maintained a six-kilometre evacuation radius.

“A moderately explosive eruption occurred at the summit crater of Kanlaon Volcano at 2:55 am today (1855 GMT Monday),” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement, adding that it lasted five minutes.

“The eruption generated a greyish voluminous plume that rose approximately three kilometres above the vent before drifting to the general west,” it said.

“Large ballistic fragments were also observed to have been thrown around the crater within a few hundred metres and caused burning of vegetation near the volcano summit.”

With the alert level unchanged, the agency warned of “increased chances of short-lived moderately explosive eruptions that could generate life-threatening volcanic hazards.”

In August 1996, Kanlaon Volcano erupted, sending a spray of heated rocks that killed three hikers who were near the summit at the time.

The Philippines is located on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where more than half of the world’s volcanoes are found.

The most powerful volcanic explosion in the Philippines in recent history was the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which killed over 800 people. — AFP