More than 16,000 people have been forced to leave their homes near the volcano Taal, which is one of the world's least active volcanoes. It sprays ash for the second day in a row from the crater in the middle of the lake, about seven miles south of the central parts of the capital Manila. Schools and public operations have been closed.

- The speed that the Thai volcanic activity has increased has surprised us, says Maria Antonia Bornas at the country's Phivolcs volcano and seismology center.

- We found magma. It is still deep, it has not reached the surface. We can still expect a dangerous outbreak at any time.

The volcano island is usually a popular tourist destination and some tourists have ignored the warnings and traveled to cities near volcanoes to get a better view of the development.

The Philippines is a part of the "ring of fire" around the Pacific, where about 90 percent of all earthquakes occur on earth.

Taal has had outbreaks more than 30 times in the last 500 years, most recently in 1977. In 1911, 1,500 people were killed.