Philippine volcano spreads lava almost 2 miles from crater

Lava fountaining regularly from the Philippines' most active volcano has flowed up to 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the crater in a dazzling but increasingly dangerous eruption.

Mount Mayon has spewed lava up to 600 meters (2,000 feet) high at times Tuesday and early Wednesday and its ash plumes stretched up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) above the crater. Lava flows in two gullies had advanced down the volcano's slopes more than a kilometer (.6 miles) and pyroclastic flows — superheated gas and volcanic debris — had reached 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the crater in one area, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Wednesday morning.

Mayon volcano spews red-hot lava in another eruption as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

An explosion from the crater at nightfall Tuesday was capped by one of the most massive lava displays since Mayon started erupting more than a week ago. Authorities on Monday expanded the no-go zone to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater and have warned a violent eruption may occur in hours or days, characterized by more rumblings and pyroclastic flows that will vaporize everything in their path.

At least 56,217 people were taking shelter in 46 evacuation camps Tuesday and army troops and police were helping others leave the danger zone.

Mayon volcano spews red-hot lava in another eruption as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Mayon volcano spews red-hot lava in another eruption as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.  (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Authorities, however, struggled to prevent villagers from sneaking back to check on their homes and farms and to watch a popular cockfight in Albay's Santo Domingo town despite the risks and police patrols and checkpoints.

In a sign of desperation, Cedric Daep, a provincial disaster response official, told a news conference that he has recommended electricity and water supplies be cut within the no-go zones to discourage residents from returning.

"If pyroclastic flows hit people, there is no chance for life," Daep said. "Let us not violate the natural law, avoid the prohibited zone, because if you violate, the punishment is the death penalty."

Mayon volcano spews red-hot lava in another eruption as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Mayon volcano spews red-hot lava in another eruption as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Volcanic ash has darkened the skies over nearby villages in coconut-growing Albay province, where Mayon lies.

More than 30,000 ash masks, along with food, water and medicine, have been sent to the region, but officials have warned that relief supplies may run out by mid-February if the eruption continues and new supplies don't arrive in time.

Mayon has long been popular with climbers and tourists but has erupted about 50 times in the last 500 years, sometimes violently.

In 2013, an ash eruption killed five climbers who had ventured near the summit despite warnings. Its most destructive eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried the town of Cagsawa in volcanic mud. The belfry of Cagsawa's stone church still juts from the ground in an eerie reminder of Mayon's fury.

Pyroclastic materials cascade down the slopes of Mayon volcano during another eruption as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.  (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

A flock of turkeys searches for food amidst an erupting Mayon volcano as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Residents watch as Mayon volcano erupts anew as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, around 340 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.  (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The Philippines, which has about 22 active volcanoes, lies in the "Ring of Fire," a line of seismic faults surrounding the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the northern Philippines exploded in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people, covering entire towns and cities in ash and partly prompting the U.S. government to abandon its vast air and naval bases on the main northern Luzon island.

HONOLULU (AP) — Defense chiefs from the U.S., Australia, Japan and the Philippines vowed to deepen their cooperation as they gathered Thursday in Hawaii for their second-ever joint meeting amid concerns about China's operations in the South China Sea.

The meeting came after the four countries last month held their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea, a major shipping route where Beijing has long-simmering territorial disputes with a number of Southeast Asian nations and has caused alarm with its recent assertiveness in the waters.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at a news conference after their discussion that the drills strengthened the ability of the nations to work together, build bonds among their forces and underscore their shared commitment to international law in the waterway.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the defense chiefs talked about increasing the tempo of their defense exercises.

“Today, the meetings that we have held represent a very significant message to the region and to the world about four democracies which are committed to the global rules-based order,” Marles said at the joint news conference with his counterparts.

Austin hosted the defense chiefs at the U.S. military’s regional headquarters, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at Camp H.M. Smith in the hills above Pearl Harbor. Earlier in the day, Austin had separate bilateral meetings with Australia and Japan followed by a trilateral meeting with Australia and Japan.

Defense chiefs from the four nations held their first meeting in Singapore last year.

The U.S. has decades-old defense treaties with all three nations.

The U.S. lays no claims to the South China Sea, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged China’s claims to virtually the entire waterway. The U.S. says freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters is in America’s national interest.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich sea. Beijing has refused to recognize a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.

Skirmishes between Beijing and Manila in particular have flared since last year. Earlier this week, Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels off off Scarborough Shoal, damaging both.

The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course.. The U.S. has warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

President Joe Biden's administration has said it aims to build what it calls a “latticework” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as the U.S. grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing says the strengthening of U.S. alliances in Asia is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability.

FILE - Japanese Defense Minster Minoru Kihara speaks during a meeting with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Washington. Austin and his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines gather in Hawaii for their second-ever meeting of defense ministers, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Dec. 6, 2022, in Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines gather in Hawaii for their second-ever meeting of defense ministers, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, April 17, 2024, in Washington. Austin and his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines gather in Hawaii for their second-ever meeting of defense ministers on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)