WATCH: Upwelling on Taal Volcano’s main crater lake continues

MANILA, Philippines — The continuous upwelling within Taal Volcano’s main crater lake was caught by a drone camera on Friday morning, a video of which was provided by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Aside from upwelling, or the rise of surface water within an area due to the buildup of magma and other volcanic materials beneath the surface, the Phivolcs drone footage also showed plumes as high as three kilometers as the Taal Volcano continues its degassing activities.

“LOOK: Drone footage of continuous upwelling of the Taal Main Crater Lake taken today, 2 July 2021 at 10:31 AM, producing three-kilometer high degassing plumes,” Phivolcs said in a Facebook post.

https://www.facebook.com/283303355111903/videos/967528067399115

“Taal erupted shortly yesterday at 3:16 PM, prompting the step-up to Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest),” it added.

A phreatomagmatic eruption occurred in Taal Volcano on Thursday afternoon, spewing ash and other materials around one kilometer high.  Due to the activity, Phivolcs raised Alert Level 3 over the area, which means some barangays in nearby town of Agoncillo and Laurel in Batangas should be evacuated.

Despite the recent volcanic activities within the restive volcano, Phivolcs said that they are not expecting a scenario similar to what happened in January 2020, when a phreatic explosion sent an ash column that eventually led to ash fall which reached as far as Metro Manila and Central Luzon.

According to Phivolcs director Undersecretary Renato Solidum, there is a difference in the way Taal Volcano is erupting recently, as degassing activities and small but frequent eruptions would mean that the volcano is being depressurized.

READ: EXPLAINER: Here’s why you wouldn’t want to cap a volcano

However, Phivolcs still noted that scenarios may change if new magma flows in through the channels used by Taal Volcano in 2020.

EDV