Philippines on alert after Taal volcano eruption; mass evacuation process underway
The pre-emptive evacuations began late on July 1 from five high-risk villages in the lakeside towns of Laurel and Agoncillo. More than 14,000 people may have to be moved temporarily away from the volcano. Most evacuation camps have set up isolation areas in case anyone began showing COVID-19 symptoms
Thousands of people were being evacuated from villages around a rumbling volcano near the Philippine capital Manila on July 2 after eruption sent steam and rock fragments hundreds of metres into the sky. (Image: AFP)
The alert was raised to three on a five-level scale after Taal Volcano blasted a dark gray plume into the sky on July 1. The five-minute steam- and gas-driven explosion was followed by four smaller emissions but the volcano was generally calm on July 2, volcanologists said. (Image: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology - Department of Science and Technology via AP)
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology agency asked people to stay away from a small island in a scenic lake where Taal sits and is considered a permanent danger zone along with a number of nearby lakeside villages in Batangas province south of Manila. (Image: AP)
The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A long-dormant volcano, Mount Pinatubo, blew its top north of Manila in 1991 in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds of people. (Image: AP)
Last year eruption in Taal displaced hundreds of thousands of people and briefly closed Manila's international airport. (Image: AP)
The pre-emptive evacuations began late on July 1 from five high-risk villages in the lakeside towns of Laurel and Agoncillo. Officials said they faced another dilemma of ensuring emergency shelters will not turn into epicenters of COVID-19 infections. (Image: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology - Department of Science and Technology via AP)
More than 14,000 people may have to be moved temporarily away from the volcano, said Mark Timbal, a spokesman for the government’s disaster-response agency. Most evacuation camps have set up isolation areas in case anyone began showing COVID-19 symptoms. (Image: AP)
Heavy ashfall also buried an abandoned fishing community, which thrived for years in the shadow of Taal on an island in Taal Lake, and shut down a popular district of tourist inns, restaurants, spas and wedding venues. (Image: AP)