Terms like “phreatic eruption,” “tephra fall” and “base surges” were quickly tossed around, and most people, worried about their safety, scrambled to try to know what they meant. The challenge of simplifying the vocabularies in communicating scientific materials and disaster risks has opened up discussions here and abroad. But Phivolcs has decided to retain the terms it uses, hoping that the public will eventually “adopt” them, Villegas said. Tephra falls are volcanic rock fragments of various si­zes that are ejected during an eruption and then fall from the sky. People living in areas close to volcanoes are often more familiar with these terms than those outside the shadow of a potential volcanic disaster.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 18, 2020 21:33 UTC