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The volcano Taal is among the world's 10 most dangerous volcanoes

Gry Barfod, assistant professor at the Department of Geoscience at Aarhus University, explains in an article in the newspaper Berlingske Tidende why the Taal volcano in the Philippines is so dangerous.

[Translate to English:] Taal-vulkanen (foto: Google Earth)

Quote from the article:

"It's a dangerous volcano in a very dangerous area where the tectonic plates collide at high speed," she stells, explaining that the biggest fear is violent explosive eruptions with so-called pyroclastic flows. It is a kind of  rapid "avalanche" of extremely heated gas and material that can devour everything in their path.

“Pyroclastic currents smash everything, because they are 1,000 degrees hot, which is why so many people are being evacuated from the area. At the same time, it is dangerous to inhale the ash because it actually consists  of microscopic pieces of glass that can damage the lungs, ”she says, adding that there is also a risk of devastating tsunamis if parts of the volcano collapse and crash into the crater lake.

Read the article in Danish in Berlingske Tidende (login needed)