Philippine Volcano Alert Lowered; Thousands Return Home
The eruption caused no known deaths but delivered an early crisis this year for one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations
By Jim Gomez •
NBCUniversal, Inc.
Dramatic time lapse footage shot in the Philippines show lightning strikes amid a massive rising column of ash cloud as the Taal Volcano erupted on Jan. 12.
Philippine authorities on Sunday lowered the alert level at Taal Volcano, two weeks after it began spewing ash, steam and rocks, a move that will allow many of the more than 376,000 displaced villagers to return home.
A popular tourist destination just south of Manila because of its picturesque setting in the middle of a lake, Taal erupted on Jan. 12. It caused no known deaths but delivered an early crisis this year for one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.
“Taal volcano’s condition in the two weeks ... has generally declined into less frequent volcanic earthquake activity, decelerated ground deformation ... and weak steam and gas emissions at the main crater,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The government’s agency lowered the alert level from 4 to 3, which means there’s a “decreased tendency toward a hazardous eruption.” The highest level-5 alert indicates a major and much more dangerous eruption.
The agency also reduced to half the danger zone where residents have to be evacuated, from the 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) radius around the volcano. Taal had last erupted 43 years ago.
A town in the Philippines is seen covered in ash in drone footage. The town and surrounding areas *were* evacuated before the eruption of the Taal volcano and no deaths are reported.
“We have to be careful of Taal because of the danger it may still bring, so at the lower level, there should be heightened preparedness. People should brace for rapid evacuation,” Renato Solidum, the head of the institute, said in a televised news conference.
Mayor Daniel Reyes of Agoncillo, a town along the western shores of Taal Lake overlooking the island where the volcano lies, said he was relieved but remained concerned. Residents of Agoncillo and nearby Laurel could still not return home because of the towns’ proximity to the volcano. Thousands of villagers who used to reside and work on Volcano Island will not be allowed to return permanently, Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas said.
Mandanas warned returning villagers to assess the safety of their villages and houses, many of which remained blanketed by volcanic ash or had been damaged by the eruption and earthquakes.
“It’s somehow a relief but we’re still under a total lockdown,” Reyes told The Associated Press, adding all the 44,000 villagers of his town will remain in evacuation centers.
Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
A fishing boat sails along a lake as the Taal volcano erupts, Jan. 14, 2020, in Talisay, Philippines.
Aaron Favila/AP
Clouds of volcanic ash rise up from damaged trees in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. The Taal volcano spewed lava half a mile high as thousands of people flee villages darkened and blanketed by heavy ash.
Aaron Favila/AP
A resident clears volcanic ash from his roof in Laurel, Philippines on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. The Taal volcano spewed ash half a mile high as thousands of people flee villages darkened and blanketed by heavy ash.
Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
A resident cleans volcanic ash from his fishing boat after the Taal volcano erupted, Jan. 14, 2020, in Talisay, Philippines.
Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
A house near Taal Volcano’s crater is buried in volcanic ash from the eruption on Jan. 14, 2020, in Taal Volcano Island, Philippines. The Philippine Institute of of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level to four out of five, warning that a hazardous eruption could take place anytime, as authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of people from the area. An estimated $10 million worth of crops and livestock have been damaged by the on-going eruption, according to the country’s agriculture department. (
Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
Houses near Taal Volcano’s crater is seen buried in volcanic ash from the volcano’s eruption on Jan. 14, 2020, in Taal Volcano Island, Philippines.
Bullit Marquez/AP
Evacuees stay at an evacuation center in Tanaun, Philippines, Jan. 14, 2020. The Taal Volcano is spewed ash half a mile high and continues to tremble with earthquakes as thousands of people flee villages darkened and blanketed by heavy ash.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
Lava spews from the crater of the Taal volcano over Lake Taal, Philippines, Jan. 13, 2020. Authorities say there is a chance of a larger eruption following the initial miles-high burst of ash on Sunday and lava eruptions on Monday.
Aaron Favila/AP
A family rides through clouds of ash as they evacuate to safer grounds in Lemery, Philippines, Jan. 13, 2020. Red-hot lava gushed from the volcano after a sudden eruption of ash and steam that forced residents to flee and shut down Manila’s airport, offices and schools.
Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images
A youth rides an outrigger canoe at the base of the Taal volcano while the volcano spews ash as seen from Tanauan town in Batangas province, Jan. 13, 2020. The Philippines was on alert January 13 for the “explosive eruption” of a volcano south of Manila, which officials said could be imminent after a massive column of ash forced a halt to flights at the capital’s main airport.
NOAA
Satellite imagery over the Philippines shows the moment the Taal volcano erupted on Jan. 12, 2020, blasting steam, ash and pebbles miles into the sky.
Kester Ragaza/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Taal volcano booms to life, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, spilling a thick blanket of volcanic ash over nearby towns and cities just south of the capital of Manila.
Courtesy Joshua Bobadilla
Lightning race across a billowing ash cloud as the Taal volcano erupts, spewing fume, ash and pebbles miles-high into the sky over Lake Taal, Philippines, Jan. 12, 2020.
Courtesy Joshua Bobadilla
Lightning race across a billowing ash cloud as the Taal volcano erupts, spewing fume, ash and pebbles miles-high into the sky over Lake Taal, Philippines, Jan. 12, 2020.
Courtesy Joshua Bobadilla
Lightning race across a billowing ash cloud as the Taal volcano erupts, spewing fume, ash and pebbles miles-high into the sky over Lake Taal, Philippines, Jan. 12, 2020.
Courtesy Joshua Bobadilla
Lightning race across a billowing ash cloud as the Taal volcano erupts, spewing fume, ash and pebbles miles-high into the sky over Lake Taal, Philippines, Jan. 12, 2020.
@spoky_who via Twitter
Video shot by a Twitter user shows lightning strikes as the Taal volcano erupted on Jan. 12, 2020.
An ash cloud from the Taal volcano looms over a wedding party, Jan. 12, 2020, in Tagaytay, Philippines. (Courtesy Randolf Evan Photography)
A couple take their wedding photos right as the Taal volcano erupts behind them, on Jan. 12, 2020, in Tagaytay, Philippines. (Courtesy Randolf Evan Photography)
Footage showed thousands of elated villagers yelling “thank you" as they drove back in droves to their still-dusty towns and cities on board motorcycles, motorcycle taxis and some cars.
More than 376,000 people fled to safety from ash-blanketed towns and cities in hard-hit Batangas province. Nearly half of them sought accommodation in some 500 state-run emergency shelters, mostly school and government buildings. The eruption had shut Manila’s main international airport for a night due to volcanic ash, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
A thriving tourism industry in Batangas and in upland Tagaytay city, where hundreds of hotels, venues, spas and parks have benefited from its vantage view of one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, came to a halt for days.
Resort towns around Taal Lake resembled ash-covered ghost towns. Police set up barricades and checkpoints to prevent residents from sneaking back to the danger zone to check their homes, rescue pets or retrieve food, documents and belongings, sparking arguments.
The 1,020-foot (311-meter) Taal is the second-most restive of about two dozen active Philippine volcanoes and precariously lies near densely populated areas. On the small island where the volcano lies, more than 5,000 villagers, many of them working as tourist guides, fled as the ground shook and the volcano belched a tall plume of dark-gray ash and steam into the sky. Hundreds of horses, cows and other animals were left behind.
The Philippine archipelago lies in the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically fragile region around the ocean basin, where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
