10 Mesmerizing and Terrifying Pictures of the Taal Volcano Eruption in the Philippines

On January 12, the great Taal volcano erupted so much ash it covered everything in a 14 km radius. On January 13, orange, glowy lava began to spew from its nethers. About one million people living within the 17 km radius from the volcano were told to evacuate immediately, due to the high risk of the so-called “blast eruption”, during which the lava is forcefully ejected from the volcano.

Ash-covered McDonalds

Random unsuspecting party celebrating life.

Nina Akino International Airport in Manila was suspended indefinitely, with nearly 170 flights canceled, due to the eruption. The volcanic ash accumulates on the runways and, if the flights were greenlit, could lead to horrible consequences.

Even the evacuation did not go over smoothly.

This is what despair looks like.