Philippines authorities have urged some 450,000 people to flee a potential “hazardous explosive eruption” of the Taal volcano, which has been spewing ash and lava since Sunday.
Lava was sent half a mile into the sky overnight on Tuesday as Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it supported a “total evacuation” of people within a 14km radius of the volcano.
Some 50 volcanic earthquakes have been detected in just hours, it added, and warned aircraft “to avoid the airspace around Taal volcano as airborne ash and ballistic fragments from the eruption column pose hazards”.
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More than 500 international and domestic flights were canceled or delayed after the airport in Manila was closed on Sunday, affecting about 80,000 passengers, airport manager Ed Monreal told The Associated Press.
The airport reopened on Monday after the ash fall eased.
"Hopefully the wind direction does not change. As long as the ash fall does not reach us, then we can be back to normalcy," Mr Monreal said.
More than 38,000 people have been relocated so far to over 200 evacuation centers, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
He said UN teams are visiting evacuation centers and supporting authorities, who have asked the United Nations for help getting face masks.
The alert level since the eruption began Sunday has been 4, indicating a hazardous eruption is possible in hours to days. Level 5, the highest, means such an eruption is underway.
About 50 volcanic earthquakes were detected over eight hours Tuesday, indicating rising magma, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
It also warned that heavy and prolonged ash fall was possible in nearby villages.
At least six people have been taken to a hospital in Tagaytay city in Cavite due to respiratory ailments caused by the ash, health secretary Francisco Duque III said.
The eruption has not directly caused deaths or major damage. The death of a driver in a crash on an ash-covered road was linked to slippery conditions.
President Rodrigo Duterte visited hard-hit Batangas on Tuesday, which has been declared a calamity zone for faster disbursement of emergency funds.
Accompanied by top disaster-response officials and Cabinet members, he promised the national government would help with the cleanup and reconstruction of the devastated province once the eruption ends.
Fears over bigger eruption
The continuous activity at Taal and several new fissures cracking the ground nearby means magma is likely rising and may lead to further eruptive activity, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The volcano has been spurting fountains of red-hot lava half a mile into the sky.
The alert level since the eruption began on Sunday has been 4, indicating a hazardous eruption is possible in hours to days.
Level 5, the highest, means such an eruption is under way.
These images captured by AP photographer Aaron Favila show people's homes covered in a blanket of ash from the volcanic eruption.
Some residents refuse to leave homes and pets
While 40,000 people have been evacuated from areas surrounding the volcano, thousands more are refusing to leave or have headed back, Reuters reports.
Some residents have reportedly returned to their homes to check on their properties, possessions and animals.
Gerry Natanauan, mayor of the city of Talisay, located within the danger zone just 311 metres from the volcano, told Reuters: “I had to put Talisay under lockdown to prevent residents who were already in the evacuation centres from returning.”
Latest travel advice
The government is advising tourists visiting the Philippines follow updates on the PhiVolcs official website.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated in its travel advice: "The Philippines’ authorities are currently recommending evacuation of an area within 14km radius of the Taal main crater.
"Also be aware that due to this flights in and out of Manila international airport are subject to disruption. You should consult your carrier.
"In addition, the ash cloud is over Metro Manilla and local government authorities in Manila have begun to advise staying indoors while ash is falling."
A couple didn't let the volcano get in the way of their big day as it erupted in the background of their wedding photos.
Wedding photographer Randolf Evan captured Chino and Kat Vaflor tying the knot 10 miles away from the Taal volcano as clouds of ash spewed into the air.
Here's the latest update from our Asia Editor Adam Withnall, following a news conference by experts from Phivolcs.
The volcanology institute says several warning signs are there that, while surface activity is reducing, the threat of a massive, explosive eruption is rising.
Fears of imminent 'massive eruption' as cracks spotted in surface of Taal volcano
'It doesn’t mean that just because surface activity weakened, the danger has eased,' expert warnsSave The Children says that an estimated 21,000 children living in the 14km danger zone identified by the Philippines government have been evacuated from their homes since Taal first started erupting on Sunday.
The charity said it was "deeply concerned" for children who have been forced to leave their homes, are missing out on school and face hunger and disease in "cramped and unsanitary" evacuation centres.
While it has no dedicated fund for the Taal evacuees, Save The Children called on people to donate to its Emergency Fund, which helps it to respond to this and other crises.
Jerome Balinton, of the Save the Children Philippines, said the children "have no idea when or even if they will be able to return to their homes".
He told The Independent in a statement: “Our humanitarian team have just visited an arena now doubling up as an evacuation centre and it was heart-breaking.
He told The Independent in a statement: “Our humanitarian team have just visited an arena now doubling up as an evacuation centre and it was heart-breaking.
"More than 900 people are sleeping on the cold, hard surface without mats. Due to sudden evacuation, people were not able to bring blankets, hygiene essentials, mosquito nets, and supplies for babies such as diapers."
A Philippines NGO has donated 3,000 pollution masks to the affected province, according to local media reports.
Balay Mindanaw brought 25 crates full of N95-filter face masks to Batangas after hearing reports that supplies in local markets had run out.
Leonardo Bautista, a manager at the NGO, said the masks were provided in conjunction with Disaster Aid International, and made necessary by the "very wide" coverage of ashfall.
He told news outlet ABS-CBN that distribution would be done in collaboration with the Philippine armed forces.
Classes in Manila will resume tomorrow after they were suspended for two days due to the falling ash from Taal volcano.
Isko Moreno, the mayor of Manila, issued a notice in the past hour stating that classes "in all levels in all public and private schools in the nation’s capital [will] finally resume" on Wednesday.
The eruption has not yet directly caused deaths or major damage, and the false perception that the crisis is easing has led to a struggle for authorities trying to convince villagers to stay away from Lake Taal.
"We have to make sure that people understand and, of course, government, that this is not an activity that will just be in a short while," said Renato Solidum, who heads the national volcanology institute.
President Rodrigo Duterte planned later on Tuesday to visit volcano-devastated areas in Batangas, which has been declared a calamity zone for faster disbursement of emergency funds, his spokesman said.
The government disaster-response agency has not provided details of damage but journalists saw dozens of houses that have been ruined by heavy ash and frequent quakes in two Batangas areas.
At least six people have been brought to a hospital in Tagaytay city in Cavite due to respiratory ailments caused by the ash, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
The government disaster-response agency has not provided details of damage but journalists saw dozens of houses that have been ruined by heavy ash and frequent quakes in two Batangas areas.
At least six people have been brought to a hospital in Tagaytay city in Cavite due to respiratory ailments caused by the ash, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
The volcano has resulted in serious travel disruption in the Philippines, since the first clouds of ash and smoke from the start of the eruption on Sunday reached the international airport in Manila.
The airport, the country's largest, only opened later on Monday once the ash cloud has dispersed.
More than 500 international and domestic flights were canceled or delayed due to the overnight airport closure, affecting about 80,000 passengers, airport manager Ed Monreal told The Associated Press today.
"Hopefully wind direction does not change. As long as the ash fall does not reach us, then we can be back to normalcy," Monreal said.
A new earthquake has hit, PHIVOLCS says. This one was shallow, just 17km, and had a magnitude of 1.8.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released satellite footage of the Taal eruption.
It said that "steam-laden plumes" from the volcano have reached 9 miles into the sky.
The footage was captured by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite launched in 2014.
NOAA said of the spacecraft: "This satellite, the first unit of the Japan Meteorological Agency's third-generation of geostationary satellites, provides visible light and infrared images of the Asia-Pacific region. Himawari's data are vital for global geostationary coverage."
A photographer captured the moment a couple said “I do” as a volcano erupted in the background of their wedding, writes Sabrina Barr.
On Sunday 12 January, Chino and Kat Vaflor were married in the Philippines.
The venue for their wedding was 10 miles away from the Taal volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the country.
Couple marry in the Philippines as volcano erupts behind them
‘We kept on checking social media for updates on the volcanic eruption,’ says wedding photographerVolcanic ash is being repurposed as bricks, Philippines media reports.
