Mayon is a stratovolcano or composite volcano. The current cone was formed through pyroclastic and lava flows from past eruptions. Mayon is the most active of the active volcanoes in the Philippines, having erupted over 47 times in the past 400 years.

It is located on a convergent boundary between the Eurasian and the Philippine Plate. Where a continental plate meets an oceanic plate, the lighter continental plate overrides the oceanic plate, forcing it down. Magma, formed where the rock melts, may be forced through the earth’s crust. One such exit point for the magma, is Mayon.

Mayon has had forty-seven eruptions in recorded history. The first recorded eruption was in 1616, the last major eruption ceased on 1st October 2006, although a devastating lahar followed on 30 November 2006.

The most destructive eruption of Mayon occurred on February 1, 1814. Lava flowed but not as much compared to the 1766 eruption. Instead, the volcano was belching dark ash and eventually bombarding the town with tephra that buried the town of Cagsawa—only the bell tower of the town’s church remained above the new surface. Trees were burned; rivers were certainly damaged. Proximate areas were also devastated by the eruption with ash accumulating to 9 m (30 ft) in depth. 2,200 Albay locals perished in what is considered to be the most lethal eruption in Mayon’s history.

Mayon Volcano’s longest uninterrupted eruption occurred on June 23, 1897 which lasted for seven days of raining fire. Lava once again flowed down to civilization. Seven miles eastward, the village of Bacacay was buried 15 m (50 ft) beneath the lava. In Libog, 100 people were declared dead—incinerated by steam and falling debris or hot rocks. Other villages like San Roque, Misericordia and Santo Niño became deathtraps. Ash was carried in black clouds as far as 160 km (100 mi) from the catastrophic event. More than 400 persons were killed.

No casualties were recorded from the 1984 eruption after more than 73,000 people were evacuated from the danger zones as recommended by scientists of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Pyroclastic flows killed 77 people, mainly farmers, in Mayon’s fatal eruption of 1993.