Philippines on alert as volcano spews ash

Fine grit weighed down trees and turned roads into muddy messes across the region surrounding the Taal volcano, which burst to life Sunday and has forced over 20,000 people to seek refuge in evacuation centres, a provincial governor said. Geologists said the volcano remained active, spurting red-hot lava some 500 metres (1,600 feet) into the air from new cracks that have opened in its northern flank, as accompanying earthquakes rattled the area.

“We are really scared of what might happen to us... that our house might collapse in a strong earthquake and that we’ll all be killed by falling debris,” said Bienvenido Musa, aged 56.  Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide deep below Earth’s surface.