“The magma in the shallow part of the crater interacts with the water, causing an explosion called well-magmatic activity,” Renato Solidum, head of the volcanic service, told DZMM radio. But Solidum said the activity would not be as explosive as the January 2020 eruption and that the ash fall could be limited to communities inside the volcano, which is in the middle of a lake. Authorities have evacuated more than 1,100 people living in lakeside communities near the volcano, the disaster service said. The evacuations include fishermen and workers in fish cages on the lake. Taal is one of the smallest active volcanoes in the world. Although it is only 311 meters (1,020 feet) high, it can be deadly and an explosion in 1911 killed more than 1,300 people. In January 2020, Taal launched a 15-kilometer column of ash and steam, forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate and dozens of flights being canceled. Heavy coal fell on cities and villages, covering everything. Houses and trees bent under his weight. The affected areas had no electricity or fresh water. In July last year, authorities once again evacuated thousands after Taal launched a 1 km (0.6 mile) gas and steam cloud. Taal Volcano is located in the Ring of Fire – a horseshoe-shaped zone in the Pacific Ocean basin, home to most of the world’s active volcanoes. It is also the point where 90% of earthquakes occur as the tectonic plates press against each other, causing vibrations. The “ring” extends along an arc of 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) from the Pacific plate to smaller plates such as the Philippine Sea, to the Cocos and Nazca plates that line the edge of the Pacific Ocean. CNN’s Helen Regan and Jinky Jorgio contributed
