PHILIPPINES TAAL VOLCANO ALERT

[Michael Grove]

   The chances of an eruption that could happen "within days to within 

  weeks" if such activity continues, Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine

  Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told AFP.

  Taal's last eruption was in 1977, he added.

   

  The local disaster office said it had evacuated over 2,000 residents living

  on the volcanic island, which lies inside a bigger lake formed by previous

  volcanic activity. Mr Solidum said officials will also order the evacuation

  of people living on another island nearby if the situation worsens.

  The Philippine airport authority suspended flights

  at Manila's international airport on Sunday. 

  "Flight operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have been

   temporarily suspended due to the volcanic ash from the eruption of

   Taal Volcano," the Manila International Airport Authority tweeted.

   Earthquakes and volcanic activity are not uncommon in the Philippines

   due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates

   collide deep below the Earth's surface. In January 2018, Mount Mayon

   displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing millions of tonnes

   of ash, rocks, and lava in the central Bicol region.

                                    Agence France-Presse reporting in The Telegraph

                                                           

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[Michael Grove]

  Rare volcanic lightning seen as huge numbers evacuated 

 over  fears of 'explosive eruption' in Philippines.

         

       

 The Philippines is preparing to evacuate hundreds of thousands

 of people in the path of an active volcano amid warnings of an

 “explosive eruption” that could also trigger a deadly tsunami.

 

 More than 24,000 people have already been forced to flee their

 homes and take shelter in 75 evacuation centres since the Taal

 volcano suddenly spewed a plume of ash from its crater half a

 mile into the air on Sunday.

 

 The volcano continued erupting throughout Monday as desperate

 residents left their homes and possessions behind. Ash blew

 across Manila, the capital city, closing down schools and offices as  

 traffic came to a halt and hundreds of flights were grounded at the

 main international airport.

      Nicola Smith, Asia correspondent Dan Olanday, Manila - The Telegraph

[Michael Grove]

Taal is one of the Philippines' most active volcanoes. Over the past few days, it's begun spewing lava, triggering earthquakes and emitting huge plumes of ash that have spread across the island of Luzon and beyond. Scientists fear a bigger "hazardous eruption" is imminent. Taal is tiny, as volcanoes go, but it has been deadly before. And according to Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippines' Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs), it is "very small but a dangerous volcano".

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So what is it about Taal that has got people so worried ?

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[IT]'s a 'COMPLEX' VOLCANO - Taal is defined as such because - it doesn't have just one main vent or cone but several eruption points that have changed over time.