Earthquakes were still happening at the Taal volcano, which shot giant clouds of ash miles into the air on Jan. 12, and levels of the gas were rising, a sign of magma “recharging” and “resupplying” beneath it, a Philippine vulcanologist said.
“If it reaches the crater, it could cause a strong explosion,” Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), told DZMM radio.
Authorities have thrown a 14-km (9-mile) exclusion zone around the volcano, with experts saying an eruption could bring a devastating rain of rocks and magma and unleash a tsunami in the lake around it.
Several establishments reopened last week in the tourist resort of Tagaytay after the volcano, 70 km (45 miles) from the capital, Manila, had shown signs of calming, but authorities urged them to heed orders to close.
“We asked them to cease operations so no tourists or locals would be lured to that area,” Epimaco Densing, an undersecretary of the interior ministry, told reporters.