Volcano remains ‘life threatening,’ experts caution
TAGAYTAY, Philippines — An erupting Philippine volcano remains “life threatening” despite weaker emissions and fewer tremors, an official said Friday and advised thousands of displaced villagers not to return to the danger zone.
The Taal volcano emitted weaker ash and steam explosions Thursday and Friday, the sixth day of its eruption. But despite the seeming lull, continuing volcanic quakes, the drying of the crater lake and other signs indicate magma is moving beneath, said Maria Antonia Bornas, an official with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
“When there is an explosion, that will be life threatening, especially if people get very near, like on Volcano Island,” said Renato Solidum, head of the institute.
The volcano since Sunday has remained at alert level 4, the secondhighest warning, indicating a hazardous explosive eruption is possible in hours or days. Solidum said assessing whether the volcano’s restiveness has eased may take up to two weeks.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from areas now under a security lockdown, and soldiers and police have been stopping desperate villagers from returning to retrieve belongings and save their poultry and cattle. Police have allowed batches of residents to check their homes for a few hours during the day in some highrisk villages.
Many houses and farms are damaged by ash, though no deaths or major injuries directly caused by the eruption have been reported. Authorities have reported one traffic fatality on an ashcovered road and an evacuee dying from a heart attack.
About 125,000 people fled their homes in hardesthit Batangas province, about 40 miles south of Manila. At least 373 evacuation sites were crammed with the displaced and needed more face masks, portable toilets, bottled water and sleeping mats, according to a provincial disasterresponse office.
Among those displaced were about 5,000 people who live on Volcano Island. It is a popular tourist destination renowned for its stunning view of the volcano’s crater lake and lush hills teeming with trees and birds. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has recommended that villagers should not be allowed back.