MANILA, Philippines — A total of 787 volcanic earthquakes have been recorded in just 24 hours as the Taal Volcano continues to be restive, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said on Sunday.
Fifteen of these are low-frequency earthquakes, according to Phivolcs in its 8 a.m. bulletin, citing information from the Taal Volcano Network.
“Such intense seismic activity likely signifies continuous magmatic intrusion beneath the Taal edifice, which may lead to further eruptive activity,” the institute said.
TAAL VOLCANO BULLETIN
19 January 2020
8:00 A.M.#TaalVolcano #TaalEruption2020 pic.twitter.com/Z1iMD0Rcn9
— PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) January 18, 2020
The Taal Volcano Network is one of the two monitoring networks currently being used by Phivolcs to trace volcanic earthquakes triggered by Taal Volcano. It can record smaller earthquakes undetectable by the Philippine Seismic Network (PSN), which covers the whole country.
Meanwhile, PSN plotted 691 volcanic earthquakes since 1 p.m. on January 12 when Taal Volcano started erupting. A total of 175 of these are registered at magnitudes 1.2 to 4.1 and were felt at intensities I to IV.
Since 5 a.m. on Saturday until 5 a.m. Sunday, 25 volcanic earthquakes were recorded by PSN, with magnitudes 1.3 to 2.7 and one felt at intensity I.
Alert Level 4 remains hoisted over Taal Volcano, which means “hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days.”
Phivolcs said it strongly reiterates the total evacuation from Taal Volcano Island and high-risk areas identified in the hazard maps within the 14-kilometer radius from the main crater and along the Pansipit River Valley where ground fissures or cracks have been observed.