by Raadee Sausa January 16, 2021 Taal Volcano (Photo from LING B) ...
January 16, 2021
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Taal Volcano (Photo from LING B) |
After the eruption in January 2020, Taal Volcano now still on alert level 1, an official told the Sentinel Times.
"Alert level 1 indicates that the volcano is still abnormal. No hazardous magmatic eruption is foreseen in the immediate future but steam driven or phreatic explosions are still possible," Director Renato Solidum of Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) told Sentinel Times in a text message over the weekend.
Solidum said that "after the eruption of Taal Volcano in January last year, where the highest Alert Level was placed at 4, its volcanic activity subsided. Consequently, the Alert Level was lowered to 3, then 2, then alert level 1 by end of March 2020."
Hence, the public is reminded that entry to the volcano island is prohibited.
On January 12, 2020 Taal volcano has spewed ash up to nine 15 kilometers into the sky, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people, the cancellation of flights and warnings of a possible explosive eruption and volcanic tsunami.
Taal volcano, one of the country’s most active, is in the middle of a lake about 45 kilometers south of Manila. As tremors shook the area, volcanic lightning flickered in the column of steam and ash.
The Phivolcs raised its alert level to 4 out of 5 – meaning “hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days.”
Phivolcs also warned of possible hazards of a volcanic tsunami and rapid currents of hot gas and volcanic matter that could hit areas around Lake Taal, a popular weekend getaway from Manila.
Evacuation of about 8,000 residents from the volcano island and other high-risk towns is under way, with about 6,000 already out of the danger zone by early Sunday evening, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
Ash fell as far away as Manila, prompting the suspension of flights at the capital’s busy international airport.
President Rodrigo Duterte had instructed authorities to move people within the perimeter of Taal out of the danger zone, his spokesman said in a statement.
Phivolcs maintains alert level 1
On December 25, the Phivolcs recorded one earthquake in Taal Volcano.
It said the emission of steam-laden plumes from Taal's main crater vents was very weak and that ground deformation parameters based on continuous GPS monitoring from March 29 to the present indicated slow and slight inflation of the northwestern sector of Taal’s caldera, which was also recorded by electronic tilt on the northwest Volcano Island starting the second week of July.
In contrast, GPS data from the southwestern sector of the caldera and Volcano Island yielded no significant change after the huge post-eruption subsidence, Phivolcs said.
Alert Level 1 is maintained over the volcano, which means sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall, and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas can occur and threaten areas within the Taal Volcano Island (TVI).
Phivolcs strongly recommended that entry into TVI, Taal’s permanent danger zone, especially the vicinities of the main crater and the Daang Kastila fissure, must remain strictly prohibited.
Local governments have been advised to continuously assess previously evacuated barangays around Taal Lake for damage and road accessibility and to strengthen preparedness, contingency, and communication measures in case of renewed unrest.
People have also been advised to take precaution because of ground displacement across fissures, possible ashfall, and minor earthquakes.
Civil aviation authorities must also advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano as airborne ash and ballistic fragments from sudden explosions and wind-remobilized ash may pose hazards to aircraft.
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