Taal volcano continues to spew ash over wide area

Some residents in the Philippine region of Agoncillo briefly returned to check on their homes and livestock on Saturday, as the Taal volcano emitted more ash clouds, potentially signalling the advance of another eruption.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from areas under a security lockdown after Taal emitted a massive plume of ash and steam more than 15 kilometers (9 miles) into the sky last Sunday.

Soldiers and police have been stopping desperate villagers from returning to Volcano Island to retrieve belongings and save their poultry, pigs and cattle - but police have allowed batches of residents to check their homes for a few hours during the day.

Those who were allowed back found their homes and farms covered in a thick layer of ash.

Ash and steam explosions had weakened after seven days of eruption, however, despite the seeming lull, factors such as continuing volcanic quakes indicate magma is moving beneath, the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned.

The volcano in Batangas province, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of the capital, Manila, has remained at alert level 4, the second-highest warning, indicating a hazardous explosive eruption is possible in hours or days.