A series of mild eruptions at the most active volcano in the Philippines has prompted the evacuation of nearly 3,000 villagers in a permanent danger zone on its foothills, officials said Wednesday. Authorities raised the 5-step alert around Mayon Volcano in the northeastern province of Albay to level 3 on Tuesday after detecting intermittent rockfalls, some as big as cars, from its peak crater in recent days along with deadly pyroclastic flows a fast-moving avalanche of super-hot rock fragments, ash and gas. Alert level 5 would indicate a major explosive eruption, often with violent ejections of ash and debris and widespread ashfall, is underway. This is already an eruption, a quiet one, with lava accumulating up the peak and swelling the dome, which cracked in some parts and resulted in rockfalls, some as big as cars, Teresito Bacolcol, the country's chief volcanologist, told The Associated Press. He said it is too early to tell if Mayon's restiveness would worsen and lead to a .