The Mayon Volcano spewed white smoke during a phreatic eruption in the Philippines.

Footage shows the active stratovolcano's peak emitting thick plumes that looked like a mass of clouds in Albay province on February 4.

Worried resident Emil Sambajon watched with his family from their home as Mayon expelled the ash column.

He said: ‘It happened around 4:38 pm on February 4. It was so sudden and came without warning.'

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs said the phreatic eruption lasted four minutes and nine seconds based on seismic records.

The agency said: ‘The event generated a booming sound, rockfall, pyroclastic density currents or PDC and a 1,200 meter-tall plume that drifted to the southwest.'

Mayon is currently on an alert level as the possibility of ashfall is being monitored in nearby towns.