Batangas: Minor phreatomagmatic eruptive events occurred at the Taal Main Crater between 3:01 p.m. and 3:13 p.m. on Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
According to Philippines News Agency, Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division chief, Ma. Antonia Bornas, stated that this kind of volcanic activity or eruption at Taal Volcano, which is at Alert Level 1, has been usual and recurring since 2021. A phreatic eruption is a sudden, usually short-lived eruption, triggered by the contact of groundwater with hot rocks underneath the volcano. Phreatomagmatic eruptions are caused by the interaction of magma and water.
The three eruptive events lasted four to six minutes based on visual, seismic, and infrasound recordings. These events were preceded by a strong tremor and produced a plume that reached 2,400 meters high and drifted southeast. This direction, Bornas noted, is opposite the direction of the ongoing retrieval operations of the Philippine Coast Guard related to the issue of missing "sabungeros".
"The high-risk area for phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions is the Taal Volcano Island or TVI," she said. Entry into the TVI, which is Taal's permanent danger zone, is prohibited, she reminded the public. The volcano remains under Alert Level 1, Phivolcs confirmed.
