Taal Volcano flexes signs of restiveness anew

MANILA, Philippines — The main crater of Taal Volcano emitted thick white plumes of steam, ash and smoke Friday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

“Mga bandang alas-singko ng umaga ay nagbuga po ito [Taal Volcano] ng isang malakas na usok na may kasamang abo na tumayag po ng anim na daang metro,” Phivolcs volcano monitoring and eruption prediction division chief Ma. Antonia Bornas said in a press briefing.

(Around 5 a.m., the Taal Volcano emitted thick smoke with ash, which reached 600 meters.)

The visible sign of sustained volcanic activity came  several days after Taal Volcano appeared relatively calm and quiet.

In a separate interview, Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum said that this happened because “the groundwater is being boiled by the hot magma.”

“The color of the steam is just white, and not really dark. So it’s just water with just some ash,” Solidum told reporters on the sidelines of an event organized by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation.

Phivolcs also monitored that the volcano’s activity in the main crater for the past 24 hours was characterized as “weak to moderate emission of white steam-laden plumes 50 to 500 meters high,” which drifted southwest.

Alert Level 4 is still raised over Taal Volcano, which means that “hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days.”

“DOST-PHIVOLCS strongly reiterates total evacuation of Taal Volcano Island and high-risk areas as identified in the hazard maps within the 14-km radius from Taal Main Crater and along the Pansipit River Valley where fissuring has been observed,” Phivolcs said in its latest bulletin.

GSG