Authorities in the country have raised the alert level to three on a five-point scale after discovering that rocks - in some cases as large as cars - have fallen from the crater in recent days.
So-called pyroclastic flows - avalanches of red-hot rock fragments and ash - have also occasionally come from the crater.
Most of the evacuees live within a six-kilometer radius of the volcano's crater. Another 600 people living further away have voluntarily chosen to leave their homes.
The volcano is located in the province of Albay.
