LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – The activity of the rumbling Mayon Volcano remained intense on Christmas Day. Alert Level 4 is still up over the volcano.

As of 6 a.m. Friday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded 871 volcanic quakes and 96 ash explosions.

The maximum height of the ash column reached 1.5 to 2 kilometers from the summit of the volcano.

A total of 125 rumbling and booming sounds were also heard since Friday morning.

Sulfur dioxide emission, meantime, decreased to 2,738 tons per day compared to more than 5,000 tons on Thursday. But Phivolcs said this is not yet an indication that volcanic activity is also decreasing.

Lava continued to flow from Mayon’s crater and the lava front has now reached more than 5 km from the volcano’s summit.

Meanwhile, a total of 9,767 families or 46,064 individuals celebrated their Christmas at evacuation centers.

Disaster officials reiterated that they should not go back to their homes inside the danger zones because of the possibility of a sudden hazardous explosion.