Taal Volcano’s phreatomagmatic bursts not as explosive as in January 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Taal Volcano’s recent phreatomagmatic bursts were not as explosive as those recorded in January 2020, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum said Saturday.

According to Solidum, magma is gradually rising at the volcano unlike in January 2020 when the volcano last erupted.

“Ang kaibahan po sa kasalukuyang pangyayari sa Taal Volcano, kumpara noong January 2020 ay dahan-dahan pong dumadaan pong umaakyat ang magma,” he said at the Laging Handa public briefing.

(The difference of the current situation in Taal Volcano compared to January 2020 is that magma is gradually rising.)

“Hindi na masyadong explosive ang eruptions na nakikita natin compared noong January 2020 kung saan ‘yung magma sa ilalim na mabilis umakyat, hindi narelease ang gas at naipon doon sa loob ng magma na sumabog ng malakas,” he added.

(The eruptions were not as explosive as the ones we saw in January 2020 where magma rose fast, the gas was not released, that’s why magma exploded strongly.)

Solidum said Phivolcs is closely monitoring if more magma will further rise at the crater and how fast it will rise.

“Kailangan pa naming gawin ngayon bantayan kung may bagong magma na manggagaling sa ilalim at kung gaano siya kabilis umakyat, kasi kapag ganito po ang mangyayari na mabilis umakyat ang bagong magma doon po nagtitrigger ng mas malakas na eruption,” he explained.

(We need to monitor if more magma will rise from below and how fast it will rise, because if magma rises fast, it can trigger a huge eruption.)

Phivolcs on Saturday morning placed Taal Volcano under Alert Level 3  after a series of short phreatomagmatic bursts.

According to Phivolcs, plumes as high as 1.5 kilometers were spotted from Taal’s main crater at 7:22 a.m. accompanied by volcanic earthquakes.

The agency warned that this may mean that there is magmatic intrusion near the main crater “that may further drive succeeding eruptions”.

Meanwhile, Solidum also said in a text message to INQUIRER.net that after the short-lived phreatomagmatic explosion at 7:22 a.m., the phreatomagmatic eruption at the Taal Volcano was “nearly continuous” from 7:33 am to 8:59 am.

“After that, no explosion has happened so far. The observations are based on Seismic, Infrasound, IP Camera and visual monitoring. Alert Level 3 prevails,” he added.

/MUF