The Philippines’ most active volcano began spewing lava on Sunday, putting thousands of people on heightened alert for the possibility of a violent explosion that would force them to suddenly evacuate from their homes.

More than 12,000 villagers have left their homes so far in mandatory evacuations from the mostly poor farming communities within a 6km radius of the Mayon volcano’s crater in north-eastern Albay province.

The evacuations began after the volcano began showing signs of renewed restlessness last week.

Authorities cautioned that thousands more remained within the permanent danger zone below Mayon, which has long been declared off-limits.

Aljazeera.