ONE week has passed since the first day Taal Volcano in Taal, Batangas exploded on Sunday (Jan. 12, 2020) driving half a million people thereat and neighboring towns to various evacuation centers.
We have seen on TV how hard life has been for them who now face uncertain future, having lost their homes, relatives, livestock and livelihood. It is impossible to translate overall losses into monetary amount.
So far, only three evacuees have been reported dead due to cardiac arrest. But the still unaccounted number of them who have been exposed to volcanic ash are in danger of catching life-threatening cardiopulmonary, skin and eye diseases.
The Department of Agriculture has estimated total agricultural losses to have hit P3.06 billion.
If it’s any consolation, the present Taal catastrophe pales in comparison to the Taal eruption of September 1965 – a little more than 54 years ago – when 500 people perished while trying to outrun the cascading magma spewing from the volcano.
But this is no time yet to heave a sigh of “it’s over” relief. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) director, Dr. Renato Solidum, the road fissures, bulges and sags caused by volcanic eruption indicate the presence of underground magma pushing its way toward the surface. Getting into contact with magma means sure death.
Magma, incidentally, refers to lava exploding out of a volcano. It consists of rocks reduced to liquid form by too much heat.
Based on Phivolcs’ records, there have been 33 eruptions since 1572. The previous one transpired in 1977, which was considered a “mild” – merely a steam-driven one arising from magma in contact with surface water – even if it killed 1,500 people.
In 1874, Taal’s longest eruption in recorded history lasted seven months. While it buried four towns in Batangas province under ash, volcanic rocks and water, and ashfall as thick as 40, our research has revealed no number of fatalities.
Only two eruptions preceding the present one could be considered “major” – those of 1911 and 1965. The 1911 eruption lasted four days and killed more than 1,000 people.
The 1965 eruption snuffed the lives of 500 residents trying to outrun the cascading magma in the first three hours; and 4,000 more within four days of the month-long eruptions.
Take note that the interval between 1911 and 1965 was 54 years. And counting from September 1965 to January 2020 equals 54 years and four months. If this were an indication of a cycle, then the next major eruption could occur in 2074.
While that phenomenon could be coincidental, remember the saying, “Forewarned is forearmed”.
In times like this, calamity victims tend to lose hope and lose faith in God.
The optimists, however, never lose hope. They would seek solace from the experiences of people who have survived similar ordeals, as well as from the immortalized “words of wisdom” like this: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It means that whenever in a difficult situation, the strong will work harder to meet the challenge.
British singer Billy Ocean reverberated that message in 1985 by recording the song When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going, which became theme for the Hollywood movie The Jewel of the Nile.
A portion of the song says:
I got something to say
I’m gonna put this dream in motion
I never let nothing stand in my way
When the going gets tough
The tough get going.
So help us God. (hvego31@gmail.com /PN)
