In the Philippines' Batangas province, the Taal volcano is spewing lava and blanketing the surrounding area with a thick layer of gray ash.
Authorities are anticipating a major eruption in the near future and have ordered the evacuation of everybody within 8.7 miles of the volcano's danger zone. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 38,000 people have been evacuated to 75 evacuation centers. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has noted that new fissures near the volcano and an increase in volcanic earthquakes are possible signs that an eruption may occur in the coming days.
These pictures show what the government has declared as the "calamity zone," where life has frozen to a virtual standstill and ash has smothered all color from this once-vibrant tropical paradise.
