Philippine volcano shows signs of calming, but danger remains

* Some people return to homes despite warnings
* 53,000 residents have abandoned their homes
* Ongoing tremors mean magma still rising - scientists

By Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema
MANILA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A Philippine volcano that has
been spewing ash for days appeared to be calming down on
Thursday, but seismologists said the danger of an eruption
remained high and authorities warned evacuees not to return to
their homes.
Some residents took advantage of what they perceived as a
lull in the activity of Taal, one of country's most active and
deadliest volcanoes, to return home even though a 14 kms (nine
mile) exclusion zone remained in place.
"We are analysing what this seeming calm of the volcano
means," Maria Antonia Bornas, chief science research specialist
at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
(Phivolcs), told reporters.
The lake inside Taal has dried up, Bornas said, which was to
be expected since it began spewing lava fountains a day after it
shot giant clouds of ash miles into the air on Sunday.
Phivolcs said volcanic activity had "generally waned to weak
emission of steam-laden plumes". Even so, it had recorded more
than 100 tremors since Wednesday, meaning magma was still
rising.
More than 53,000 residents have abandoned their homes around
Taal to take shelter in evacuation centres, but thousands more
are refusing to leave or have already drifted back to check on
their animals and possessions.
Power has been restored in some areas in nearby Tagaytay
city where business owners were cleaning away the ash and
preparing to start trading again.
Although Taal is one of the world's smallest active
volcanoes at only 311 meters (1,020 feet) high, it can be
deadly. One eruption killed more than 1,300 people in 1911.
Taal has erupted more than 30 times in the past five
centuries, with the most recent in 1977. The Philippines lies on
the "Ring of Fire", a belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific
Ocean that is also prone to earthquakes.