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'Rgcharging'- Those wantings come as the north-
*',"t" t olcano island'has
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Taalhints of
rhas
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swelledi
,rt"" t16,ooo PeoPle huu" ''' .
lrll(cx rclLLge in evacuaLion cenlers
strong blast .irrtq Tacl
-btlrst
tri lile a week ago'
btrL nrattv hlrcl-hit towns have let
rcii(lcllls l)ilck l,rr hrttrrs e;tch day to
letch itcrns, l'cecl liveslook and clean
3fiff,fiiLllf,,' rrn tlrlir'ltott:ut
"Wc rtc rJircctittg Dl{l{MCs (civil
,&- UTHORITIES ticlinsc ollicclsl .. itot to ullow anyone
/,k ordered a tLr ( lcl the dallgcr zorle.-'saiLl Epitnaco
l' h-crackdownMondaY Dcttsitru. rurdeisecrcbry lor the Depart-
,t,",t, ullt" lntcrior and Local Covem-
on evacuees' dailY visits tq l)lellL.
ttieir homes in the danger ''li s tlangctous- lhat's wlly we have
zonc arortnd Taal Volcano intp.rsctl a lockdown." he told reporters'
'ihc rolcano shot ash 15 kilotnetcrs
as scientists warned it could lriah io the JLrn. l2 eruption, which
'
be'lecharging" for a more , crished scorcs ofhomes and killed live-
powerful exPlosion' I stock as well as croPs. Next Page-

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A7
Frcn
HSoo", on Monday said mag- ltlH,llit"*'*,n**'
ma continues to deform Taal' Volcano . The House ofRepresentatives has de-
i island, a sign of a possible explosive cided to hold a session at Batangas City
Howwer, seismolo$sts have warned eruption Cotvention Cent€r to have first band
the volcano could imminently unleash a In their updates Sunday, PHIVOLCS knowledge of the situation and listEn
much bigger eruption, posing a deadly issued an Eruption Update on Taal Vol- io th€ complaints of afecled lesidents.
risk to anyone in the l4-kilometer radius cano, with an Alert Level 4, "Hazardous Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano made the
"danger zone" that surrounds it. Erupfion Imminent" at 6 p.m. Srmday. announcement in a priwilege speech
Continued erthquakes and an increase "Definit€ly there is magma rising," So. Monday at the resumption of session
in the volcano's emission of sulfur diox- lidum said Monday. Monday. Cayetano urged his colleagues
ide gas were possible indicationi oia "re- Since 8:00 a.m., Sunday, Taal Volca- to help find solutions to address the et
charge" of magn4 which would drive a no's activity has been ganerally charac- fects ofdisaste$ and calamities.
major blast, a top sciedist said. terized by weak emission of steam-laden . The mayor of Agoncillo, Batangas,
"We consider tlese are signs that plumes 300 to 500 meien high from the told his constihrents that their lives were
there's a re-supply of magrna which main crater that drifted to the general more important than their possessions.
could possibly... cause an.eruption that southwest. Mayor Daniel Reyes was reacting to pleas
could be strong," Renato Solidum, head The Philippine Seismic Networt plot- from residents to be allowed to retum to
ofthe Philippine Institute ofVolcanology ted a total of ?01 volcanic earthquakes their homes to retrieve their belongings
and Seismology, told a local radio station. since l:00 p.m., Jan . 12,2A20. and feed their livestock.
Until experts deern the tbrcat has with
Atoial of 176 of these were felt . Batangas Gov Hermilando Mandan-
V
passed, evacuees will need the shelters intensities ranging from Intensity I io as ditected town mayors to cancel'\rin-
spread aqross some 400 sites that range Since 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sudday, dow hririn" th'at previously allowed resi-
ftom school campuses io covered basket- there were 10 volcanic earthquakes plot- dents to check their homes from which
ball cowts. te4 including one felt event with Inten- they evacuated due to the eruption ofTsal
Conditions vary between sites, but sev- sity I. Volcano. The chief of the provincial di- '
eral evacuees said they were getting food The Taal Volcano Networb which can s4ster 'ofrca, Lito Castro, said the prac-
and a plac€ to sleep, but that batbrooms record -small earthquakes .undet€ctable tice was too dangerous. "We dont have
were in high demand. by the PSN, recorded 24 volcanic earth- parameters or a time frame on when Taal
"It's really difficult to take a bath or use quakes including three low-frequency will erupt; that's like an earthquake, we
tbe toilet because of the sheer numbers quakes. don't lorow when it will strike," he said
(of evacuees), but we can take it,'j said The intense seismic activity likely in Filipino.
SoniaAwitan.55. signifies continuous magmatic intusion . The vice mayor of Talisay, Batangas
"What is important is we have a place beneath the Taal edifice, which.may lead appealed to President Rodrigo Duierte
added.
to shelier and sleep in," she to fudher eruptive activity, PHWOLCS Monday to allow his constituents to re-
Authorities say they have so far been said" Latest sulfin dioxide (SO2) emis- tum home even as state seismologists
to
able to provide fimdamental services sion was measured at an average of4,353 wamed that a hazardous Taal Volcano
the evacuees, but are concemed about the .tons a day Srmday at 5 p..m., which was eruption is still possible. In an interview
tefm.
longer 5
higher than the I ,,142 tons emitted from on radio dzlVlM, Vice Mayor Charlie Na-
''We can handle the lcuneft evacuee a.m. Jan. 18 to 5 a.m. Jan. 19. tanauan also miticized chief seismologist
go.
numben]. The issue is how are we "Ifthe sulfi.r dioxide is higher, it means Renato Solidum over tlre volcano alert
ing to sustain resources over tle longer there's magrna going up," Solidum said. wamings, saying the head seismologist
di-
tern," Alex Masiglat, spokesman for From 5 a.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Mon- should change his 'bpinion" about Taal's
saster relief in the ground zero Calabar- day, PHIVOLCS recorded 23 volcanic activity.'No one in this world, including
said.
zon region earthquakes, with magtritudes 1.2 to3.8. any scientists, could ever predict when a
to
"Our concem is how are we going Solidlm said the magnitude 4.6 quake volcano could erupg" he said. "Why is he
susiain a long-term evacuation period," that hit Mabini, Batangas od Sunclay saying (about a posgible eruption), is be
added.
he night was caused by fault movements. God?" he asked.
Though no people have been reported This fault started moving during the April . Batangas Vice Gov. Mark Lev-
killed in the eruption, it has wrought hav- 2017 series ofearthquakes, he added. iste warned those who would retum
oc on agriculture and ioudsm. "We would study whether this (mag- to "high-risK' zones near thg volcano
Taal is set in the middle of a pictur- nitude 4.6) earthquake has an effect on could face charges of violation of the
esque lake that is a popular draw for tour- the volcarc and vice versa. But for noq disaster management law. Wlth Macon
ists, especially since it isjust 60 kilome- since there was fauh movement, defi- Ramos-Aran€t& Maricel Y. Ctttz,
ters south ofthe hot and crowded capital nitely magma would be pushed upwar4r AFB PNA '

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