Mt. Masaraga

Mt. Masaraga
Mt. Masaraga | @nmbicol via Photo: Rocky Fabilane

Mt. Masaraga

Standing northwest of the famous Mayon is another volcano.

For today’s BulkanNgBikol, the National Museum of Bicol features Mt. Masaraga, a forested inactive volcano near Mayon. It is a stratovolcano rising 1,328 meters surrounded by four (4) towns in the province of Albay, namely, Polangui, Oas, Ligao City, and Tabaco City. Mt. Masaraga’s flanks have thick lava flows, but there has been no data about its eruption history.

A critical watershed for the Bicol River Basin, the 810-hectare Mt. Masaraga Watershed Forest Reserve, was declared as Watershed Forest Reserve last October 27, 1992. This isolated mountain is inhabited by diverse species of flora and fauna, including the world’s largest flower—the Rafflesia.

Mt. Masaraga is part of the Bicol Volcanic Arc, a chain of volcanoes that resulted from the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate along the Philippine Trench.

You may want to read: