An ash cloud from Taal Volcano in the Philippines stretches skywards on January 12 at around 4pm local time.<br /><br />The volcano spewed thick plumes of ash in the sky forcing more than 8,000 people to be evacuated.<br /><br />Taal is in the Batangas province, around 100km from the centre of Metro Manila, but even there residents felt the effects of falling ash.<br />Clouds of ash in the immediate epicentre stretched 1km into the sky.<br /><br />Authorities raised the alert level, warning that a ‘hazardous eruption’ was possible within weeks.<br /><br />The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned residents living nearby of a possible ‘volcanic tsunami’.<br /><br />Flights were suspended at Manila's international airport because of the volcanic ash.
