Lava has gushed out of a volcano in the Philippines after a sudden eruption of ash and steam that forced villagers to flee and shut down the country’s main airport, offices and schools.

Clouds of ash were blown more than 62 miles (100km) north of the Taal volcano, reaching the bustling capital, Manila, and forcing the the main international airport to close and cancel more than 500 flights.

There have been no reports of casualties or major damage from the eruption that began on Sunday.

Police said more than 13,000 villagers had been moved to evacuation centres in the hard-hit province of Batangas and nearby Cavite, but officials expect the number to swell with hundreds of thousands more being brought to safety.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A boy guides an outrigger canoe in the lake around Taal volcano on Sunday. Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AF/Getty

The evacuation numbers are likely to be higher as local authorities help displaced people before notifying the national agency that is collating the figures. Some residents could not move out of ash-blanketed villages because of a lack of transport and poor visibility, while others are refusing to leave their homes and farms.

“We have a problem, our people are panicking due to the volcano because they want to save their livelihood, their pigs and herds of cows,” Wilson Maralit, the mayor of Balete town, told DZMM radio. “Were trying to stop them from returning and warning that the volcano can explode again any time and hit them.”

Maralit, whose town lies along the shoreline of Taal Lake, which surrounds the erupting volcano, appealed for troops and additional police to be deployed to stop residents from sneaking back into high-risk areas.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lightning strikes as a column of ash rises from the Taal volcano on Sunday. Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty

Several planes stranded at the Manila airport might be allowed to take off on Monday once they were cleaned of ash and authorities were sure an easterly shift in ash-laden wind away from the capital would not revert, the airport general manager, Ed Monreal, told a news conference. The airport could not accommodate incoming flights until stranded aircraft had flown out and freed up parking bays, he said.

The aircraft of the president, Rodrigo Duterte, was able to land on Monday after his flight, from his southern Davao city hometown, was delayed on Sunday by the volcanic eruption, his spokesman said.

Taal had been restive for months until it suddenly rumbled back to life on Sunday, blasting steam, ash and pebbles up to nine miles into the sky, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Lava spurting from the volcano’s vents on Monday was falling into the lake surrounding the crater.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Residents evacuate the ash-choked streets of Batangas. Photograph: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

The government volcano-monitoring agency raised the danger level around Taal three notches to level 4, indicating an imminent hazardous eruption. Level 5, the highest, means a hazardous eruption is under way and could affect a larger area with high-risk zones that would need to be cleared of people, said Renato Solidum, who heads the institute.

María Antonia Bornas, the agency’s chief volcanologist, said Taal spurted fountains of lava early on Monday while its ash and steam ejections slightly eased. “It’s hard to tell when the eruption would stop,” she said, citing the volcano’s similar restiveness in the 1970s that lasted for about four months.

With the ashfall easing on Monday, some residents began to shovel away ash that covered everything from homes to cars and roads in Tagaytay, a popular upland resort city on a ridge that overlooks the small but picturesque volcano. Many of the city’s restaurants and coffee shops, however, were closed.

Play Video 1:06 Taal volcano: lightning and giant plumes of smoke with 'explosive eruption' forecast – video

The volcanology institute reminded the public that the small island where the volcano lay was a permanent danger zone, although fishing villages had existed there for years.

Authorities continued to detect swarms of earthquakes and the slight inflation of portions of the volcano, officials said, advising residents to stay indoors and to wear masks and goggles if they had to go outside.

Public institutions, including schools, in many towns and cities were suspended on Monday, including in Manila, to avoid health risks posed by the ashfall. At least four Batangas towns reported power outages.

Taal, one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, is among two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines and lies along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.