Taal spews 2.5-km plume of smoke

RESTIVE TAAL volcano emitted a plume of dark smoke on Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.

Manila’s seismology agency said that a steam emission from the Taal Volcano in Batangas province happened after magma came into contact with water within its main crater, according to a post on its official Facebook page.

There were three “eruptive activities” each lasting four to six minutes based on visual and seismic monitoring, it added.

“The events were preceded by a strong tremor and produced a plume that rose 2,400 meters above the MCL (main crater lake) before drifting southeast,” Phivolcs said. Taal, located about 70 kilometers (km) south of Manila, is one of the world’s smallest active volcanoes, but some of its previous eruptions had affected the capital and air travel.

The Philippines is along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean, putting it at risk of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It also lies directly on the path of the northwestern Pacific’s typhoon belt, experiencing about 20 storms per year.

Authorities have kept Taal Volcano under Alert Level 1 since 2022. It maintained the status despite recent steam emissions triggered by what the seismology agency described as a “minor phreatomagmatic activity.”

In its Thursday bulletin, Phivolcs warned that hazards such as sudden volcanic explosions, earthquakes and the accumulation or release of lethal volcanic gas remain a threat around Taal Volcano. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio