MANILA, Philippines — The steam emission at the main crater of the Taal Volcano was observed to be “steady” over the past 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Saturday.
In its latest Taal Volcano bulletin, Phivolcs added that the volcano’s main crater also had “infrequent” weak explosions, which generated “white to dirty” ash plumes inching 50 to 600 meters tall, and dispersing ash southwest of the main crater.
Sulfur dioxide emission was also measured at an average of 360 tons per day on Friday, which was consistent with the characterized “weak” plume activity at the main crater, Phivolcs added.
The Philippine Seismic Network added that from 5 a.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on Saturday, 32 volcanic earthquakes were plotted, registering at magnitudes 1.5 to 3.3.
Meanwhile, a total of 666 volcanic earthquakes were plotted since 1 p.m. of Jan. 12, where 174 of these were recorded having a magnitude of between 1.2 to 4.1.
Alert Level 4 is still raised over the Taal Volcano, which means that a “hazardous” eruption could occur within days or hours.