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| Musuan Peak with clouds partly covering the peak |
Physical characteristics
Musuan is a lava dome and tuff cone.
It has an elevation of 646 meters asl, and a base diameter of 3 km.
Eruptions
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reports that Musuan erupted in 1866 and 1867, but the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program records another eruption, possibly phreatic, that "burned everything around it." The explosion supposedly occurred four years before the 1891 visit of a Jesuit priest, who reported that he could not examine the volcano more closely because of strong solfataric activity.
A strong seismic swarm occurred near Musuan in 1976.
Musuan is one of the active volcanos in the Philippines, which are all part of the Pacific ring of fire.
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| A view of Musuan Peak from the surrounding rice fields at dawn. Part of the Central Mindanao University motorpool buildings are visible on the bottom left. |
Tourism
Mt. Musuan's lack of any visible indication of it being a volcano has led to some local skepticism of it being an active volcano. Locals have on more than one occasion insisted that the Musuan Peak proper is not the actual volcano but is only the lava dome. The actual crater is supposedly the nearby rift lake Lake Apo(variations of which lake exactly range from the Lake Lanao to the much smaller Lake Pinamaloy).
Still, the imagery evoked by its name variant 'Mount Calayo' (Fire Mountain) and the stories told by local Bukidnon tribesmen keeps people wary of the relatively small mountain which doesn't look at all like a volcano.
Due to its proximity to the government-run Central Mindanao University and the University town proper, it has become a popular destination for students and teachers alike, either for picnics or a study of the flora and fauna of one of the few remnants of the jungles that once covered the valleys of the surrounding areas. Due to its isolated position in the middle of the valley and the very small surface area of its highest point (only a few meters), the entire countryside is visible from the top. Currently its slopes has been the target of extensive reforestation efforts partly paid for by the establishment of toll gates to hikers intending to go up the mountain.
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Coordinates: 7°52′36″N 125°4′6″E
