The Taal volcano, located on a picturesque lake south of Manila, erupted with a “short-lived” eruption at 7.22am on Saturday morning, the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Philippines said in a statement. He warned that further eruptions were possible, which he said could cause dangerous, rapidly moving volcanic gases of gas, ash and debris, as well as a tsunami. Residents of five fishing and agricultural settlements around the lake have been ordered to flee their homes, in the third mass evacuation in many years around one of the country’s most active volcanoes. “It was raining mud,” said Cornelia Pesigan, 25, who sought refuge at a school outside the 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) “danger zone.” “It smelled very bad and I had difficulty breathing,” he added. The initial eruption was followed by “almost continuous well-magmatic activity” that sent plumes extending 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) into the air, the seismological service said, raising the alert level from two to three on a scale of zero to five. A dam explodes when molten rock comes in contact with groundwater or surface water, said Princess Cosalan, a scientist at the agency, likening it to pouring “water into a hot pan”. Kosalan told AFP that ash and steam emissions had dropped in the hours after the initial eruption, but said the institute’s on-site sensors continued to detect volcanic earthquakes and that another eruption was “possible”. The head of the service, Renato Solidum, said the activity was weaker than in January 2020, when Taal fired 15 kilometers of ash and fired hot lava, smashing many houses, killing animals and sending tens of thousands to shelters. “There is no threat beyond the… five villages,” Solidum said. More than 12,000 people live in the most vulnerable communities, according to the latest available official figures. The police have been developed to stop the entrance of people in high-risk zones, while air authorities warned airlines and pilots for potential risks from volcanic ash to the atmosphere. The Philippines is periodically hit by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire – a zone of intense seismic activity. Access to the volcano island, once home to a community of thousands, has been banned since the 2020 eruption. Last July, the seismological service raised the alert level to 3 after Taal came to life again. It rained sulfur dioxide for several days, creating a dense fog over the capital and surrounding provinces. The alarm level dropped again to two before Saturday’s explosion.
