While the Taal Volcano in the Philippines is showing quieter activity, local authorities are renewing warnings for people to leave the area as they fear a dangerous and explosive eruption in the days to come.
The volcano is located in the middle of Lake Taal, about 70 kilometers south of Manila and is the second most active volcano in the Philippines. Forced mass evacuations continue to take place on Wednesday to move the estimated half a million population that lives within the danger zone – a 14-kilometer area around the volcano.
First images and testimonials testify that the area has turned into a “no man’s land” or wasteland as it is covered by the volcanic ashes. A government’s spokesperson informed that an aerial inspection of the land confirmed that vegetation and animal life on the volcano island was dead, burned by the heat.
This lake region is a popular tourist area for the Philippines with many residents living solely on tourism. Most fear that they will not be able to return home and to continue to work for the tourism industry. Since Sunday, air travel in and out of Manila has been severely impacted by the ash cloud. As the ashes dissipate, flight operations are slowly resuming.