MANILA — Thousands
of people were ordered to evacuate from their homes near a
Philippine volcano
Saturday after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of meters into the sky.
اضافة اعلان
Taal volcano, which sits in a lake south of
Manila, exploded with a "short-lived" burst at 7:22am (2322 GMT), the
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.
It warned further eruptions were possible,
which it said could trigger dangerous, fast-moving volcanic flows of gas, ash,
and debris, as well as a tsunami.
The seismological agency
"strongly" recommended residents living in vulnerable communities
around the lake be evacuated, as it raised the alert level from two to three.
The initial eruption was followed by
"nearly continuous phreatomagmatic activity" that sent plumes
stretching 1,500m into the air.
A phreatomagmatic eruption happens when
molten rock comes into contact with underground or surface water, said Princess
Cosalan, a scientist at the agency, likening it to pouring "water on a hot
pan".
Cosalan told AFP that ash and steam
emissions had quietened in the hours after the initial burst, but said the
institute's on-site sensors continued to detect volcanic earthquakes and
another eruption was "possible".
"There is magmatic intrusion at the
Main Crater that may further drive succeeding eruptions," the agency
warned.
Residents of five villages were ordered to
leave their homes, regional civil defense spokesman Kelvin John Reyes told AFP.
More than 12,000 people live in the
settlements, according to the latest available official data.
Police have been deployed to stop people
entering the high-risk areas.
Taal is one of the most active
volcanoes in
a nation hit periodically by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on
the Pacific "Ring of Fire" — a zone of intense seismic
activity.
Access to the volcano island, which was once
home to a community of thousands, has been prohibited since January 2020.
That was when an eruption shot ash 15km high
and spewed red-hot lava, crushing scores of homes, killing livestock, and
sending tens of thousands into shelters.
Last July, the seismological agency raised
the alert level to three after Taal burst to life again.
It belched Sulphur dioxide for several days,
creating a thick haze over the capital and surrounding provinces.
The alert level was lowered back to two
before Saturday's eruption.
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