Manila – The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said “hazardous explosive eruption” is still imminent at Taal Volcano in Batangas.
PHIVOLCS officer-in-charge Renato Solidum said Alert Level 4 remains hoisted in Taal due to the “rapid escalation of volcanic activity.”
On Monday, there was a phreatic steam-driven activity progressed into a magmatic eruption at 2:49 a.m. to 4:28 a.m. at Taal, according to PHIVOLCS.
Solidum said there were also “high risks to pyroclastic density currents and volcanic tsunami,” recommending the evacuation of all residents within a given distance.
“Napakabilis ng pagbabago ng kondisyon,” he added.
Solidum warned earthquakes of less than magnitude four and strong shaking will persist in areas near the volcano.
“It means there is continued movement of significant volume of magma. That can still persist as long as magma is still moving up the volcano,” he said.
As of yesterday, a total of 75 volcanic earthquakes have been recorded in the Taal region, 32 of these were felt with up to Intensity V or strong shaking.
“One concern with the continuous stronger shaking, slopes might be loosened along the crater wall of the bigger caldera. So people have to be cautious if their houses are in the steep slopes,” he said.
He added a volcanic tsunami is possible when Taal Volcano enters the fifth and highest threat level. Volcanic tsunamis are triggered by falling debris after a volcanic eruption. The debris can push the water and generate waves towards the shoreline.
“These kinds of hazards have happened during major eruption events, such as in the 60s and 1911 eruptions. It’s not that high compared to typical earthquake tsunami in open seas but this can damage and impact people if they are on the shore,” he said.
“We haven’t seen yet the hazards of the 1965, 1911 and 1754 eruption manifested in Taal Volcano. We will see flows of ashes, rocks, gas at speeds of over 60 kph horizontally and that can move across the lake,” Solidum added.
Taal showed a marked increase in volcanic activity on Sunday, with PHIVOLCS raising alert levels two, three and four in a course of a few hours.
The eruptive activity of the volcano has increased since 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, which spewed a 10 to 15-kilometer high ash column and has sent ash falling on nearby provinces and areas as far north as Quezon City.
Classes and government work on Monday in several areas in Batangas, nearby province Cavite, and several cities in Metro Manila have been suspended.
Manila’s main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, suspended all incoming and outgoing flights on Sunday before implementing partial operation on Monday.
Taal is one of the shortest volcanoes in the world and is the second-most active volcano in the Philippines. Its last eruption was in 1977./PN
