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Alert on Philippine Volcano Lowered as Residents Are Cleared to Return

The decline in volcanic activity means that many of the region’s 376,000 displaced villagers can return to their homes.

Volcanic ash buried a village of Calauit after the Taal Volcano erupted this month.Credit...Jes Aznar for The New York Times

The Philippine authorities on Sunday lowered the alert level at Taal Volcano, two weeks after it began spewing ash, steam and rocks, a move that will allow many of the region’s 376,000 displaced villagers to return home.

A popular tourist destination just south of Manila because of its picturesque setting in the middle of a lake, Taal erupted on Jan. 12. It caused no known deaths but delivered an early crisis this year for one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the volcano’s condition had “generally declined into less frequent volcanic earthquake activity,” with “weak steam and gas emissions at the main crater.”

The government’s agency lowered the alert level from four to three, which means there is a “decreased tendency toward a hazardous eruption.” The highest level alert, five, would have indicated a major and much more dangerous eruption, though it did not reach that level.

The agency also reduced by half the danger zone where residents have to be evacuated, which had been the area in an 8.7-mile radius around the volcano.

But officials warned that the volcano still poses dangers.

“We have to be careful of Taal because of the danger it may still bring, so at the lower level there should be heightened preparedness,” said Renato Solidum, the head of the institute. “People should brace for rapid evacuation.”

More than 376,000 people fled to safety from ash-blanketed towns and cities in hard-hit Batangas Province after the volcano erupted. Nearly half of them sought accommodation in about 500 state-run emergency shelters, mostly school and government buildings.

The eruption forced the shutdown of Manila’s main international airport for a night from the volcanic ash, resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

A thriving tourism industry in Batangas and in upland Tagaytay city, where hundreds of hotels, venues, spas and parks have benefited from its vantage view of one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, came to a halt for days.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Alert Level Is Cut for Philippine Volcano. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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