Volcanic eruption in the Philippines prompts mass evacuations, state of calamity

Taal, a string of volcanic craters in the middle of a lake about 60 miles south of Manila, shot ash into the air and leaked lava Sunday, prompting the Philippine state of Batangas to declare a "state of calamity" and Manila international airport to suspend all flights. The airport resumed partial operations on Monday but the Philippine stock exchange was closed. An estimated 450,000 people live inside a 14-mile danger zone around the volcano, and about 8,000 people were being evacuated Sunday and Monday, trudging or driving through wet ash coating the streets.

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The town of Taal, on the lake with its namesake volcanic island, was under mandatory evacuation and Mayor Pong Mercado said his office had to abandon 11 of the evacuation centers it set up as it became necessary to move residents to a city farther from the volcano. This was Taal's first eruption since 1977 and officials warned that the volcanic activity could elevate to Level 5 on a five-point scale.

"Taal volcano entered a period of intense unrest," including "magmatic eruption" so far "characterized by weak lava fountaining accompanied by thunder and flashes of lightning," the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a statement. The volcano has already caused at least 75 mostly small earthquakes in the Taal region.

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Taal is the second most active volcano in the Philippines and one of the smallest volcanoes in the world. There are 20 active volcanoes in the country, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.