Philippines volcano erupts

Manila: A rumbling volcano south of the Philippine capital erupted in a cocktail of ash and steam on Wednesday, prompting public health warnings but causing no injuries, authorities said.

A 2400-metre (7,875-feet) column of volcanic material shot up from the Taal volcano when it erupted on Wednesday afternoon, the state volcanology institute said.

No evacuations were reported but residents of villages around the volcano, which sits in the middle of a lake about 50 kilometres (30 miles)south of Manila, were advised to wear face masks.

The volcano had a phreatomagmatic eruption, which occurs when magma interacts with water and produces plumes of steam, ash and other volcanic materials, state volcanology agency director Teresito Bacolcol told AFP.

"The gas can be harmful, so we encourage the public to wear masks," Bacolcol said.

The agency said the alert level remains at a low level one on a 0-5 scale.

"For now, we are looking at the other parameters and we are not seeing an increase in the number of volcanic earthquakes," Bacolcol said.

There were no reported casualties and no planned evacuations yet, Batangas city disaster official Victor Pascual told AFP.