Taal volcano: Deadly eruptions continues to rock Philippines leaving 500,000 citizens home

The volcano has been spitting ash and lava since Sunday. Lava was even shot half-a-mile into the sky on Tuesday. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it supported a “total evacuation” of people who are within a 14km radius of the Taal.

The eruption has not yet caused any deaths, though six people are thought to be in hospital in the Tagaytay city of Cavite.

This is was because of respiratory ailments from the ash, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has said.

However the damaging perception that the natural event has started to decline has meant authorises have had difficulty in convincing local residents to leave their homes.

Renato Solidum, who heads the national volcanology institute, said via the Independent: “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.

Despite the government’s disaster-response agency not providing details about the damage caused by the ongoing blast, reporters have suggested that dozens of houses have no been ruined by the eruption.

In fact, around 50 volcanic earthquakes have been spotted in a matter of hours.

The agency warned any planes entering ahead “to avoid the airspace around Taal volcano as airborne ash and ballistic fragments from the eruption column pose hazards”.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, meanwhile, has issued another warning.

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“The speed in the rise of magma is important [in determining] when the volcano will have a strong eruption and if it will slow down and freeze.

“As of now, we don’t see activities slowing down and the earthquakes still continue.”

Currently, Philippine government’s disaster-response agency has that there has been around 30,400 evacuees in Batangas and nearby Cavite provinces.

The agency believes the number will only grow.

The Save The Children charity estimates that 21,000 that were living in the danger zone have ben evacuated.

They said they are “deeply concerned” for children who have now been forced out their homes as they are missing school and face hunger and disease.