This is the dramatic moment the Kanlaon Volcano spewed ash in the Philippines.

Time-lapse footage shows the volcano belching gas plumes up to 660ft into the sky on Negros Island on December 31. The columns were observed drifting westward by the Kanlaon Volcano Observatory in Canlaon City.

State seismological agency PHIVOLCS said 16 ash emission events were recorded over the past two days. It warned residents against entering the 4-mile radius 'permanent danger zone'.

Kanlaon is a 8,100-ft stratovolcano, which straddles the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, has been spewing ash and sulfur dioxide at increased rates since it erupted in June.

Its last magmatic eruption was in 1902.

Kanlaon is currently under Alert Level 3 indicating 'high levels of volcanic unrest'. Forceful and voluminous steam or ash ejections, sustained sulfur dioxide emissions, and ground deformation or edifice swelling may be observed.

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands inside the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' where the majority of Earth's volcano eruptions and earthquakes happen.