A volcano in the Philippines has erupted, prompting a mass evacuation of thousands of people living in nearby regions.

The Mayon Volcano, situated near Legazpi City in the Province of Albay, Luzon, first began worrying officials on Thursday (June 8) when an increase in activity saw them raise the alert level to Alert Level 3 (Increased Tendency Towards Hazardous Eruption).

Since then there have been numerous earthquakes at the site of the volcano and scientists have observed an increase in the amount of dangerous rockfall from the summit.

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Scientists have also reported pyroclastic flows from the volcano's lava dome – a convex feature formed inside the crater or mouth of a volcano formed when magma builds up, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Lava domes then typically cause magma to push up on the crater floor, sending debris down the volcano’s slopes.

On Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported there had been at least 21 earthquakes in the previous 24-hour period and at least 260 rockfall events and three pyroclastic flows.

A radius of nearly four miles around the volcano has been declared a Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) and evacuated, meaning thousands of people have had to leave their homes.

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Airspace has also been restricted across the surrounding region.

The Mayon Volcano is the most active of the Philippines' 100 volcanos, according to the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program.

This new volcanic activity began just days before the 32nd anniversary of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on Luzon's northern island in the north of the Philippines, one of the most infamous in the nation's history.

The 1991 natural disaster was the second-largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska, according to USGS.

Approximately 20,000 people were evacuated because of the explosion, while a whopping 847 were killed and around 10,000 were left without homes in the aftermath.

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