(Eagle News) — In this video taken by Eagle News Service correspondent Ghadz Rodelas, wispy to weak wispy to weak emission of white to dirty white steam-laden plumes continue to be seen at the Taal Volcano’s main crater as of Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020.
Taal Volcano remains under Alert Level 3 which means that there is a “decreased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.”
Rodelas came with the members of the Provincial Public Order and Safety Division of the Batangas provincial government led by Atty. Genaro Cabral when they visited the Taal Volcano Island to rescue animals which are still trapped there.
The Batangas officers also inspected the area, considered as a “no man’s land” because of the danger that the still active volcano posed.
On Saturday morning, at 8 a.m., Feb. 1, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) issued a bulletin that the “activity in the Main Crater in the past 24 hours has been characterized by wispy to weak emission of white to dirty white steam-laden plumes 50 meters tall that drifted southwest.”
“Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission was measured at an average of 65 tons/day,” the PHIVOLCS bulletin said.
The Taal Volcano Network also recorded 182 volcanic earthquakes including one low-frequency event and one harmonic tremor that lasted 3 minutes.
“These earthquakes signify magmatic activity beneath the Taal edifice that could lead to eruptive activity at the Main Crater,” Phivolcs said.
The agency reminded the public “that sudden steam-driven and even weak phreatomagmatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, ashfall, and lethal volcanic gas expulsions can still occur and threaten areas within Taal Volcano Island and nearby lakeshores.”
It recommended “that entry into the Taal Volcano Island as well as into areas over Taal Lake and communities west of the island within a seven (7) km radius from the Main Crater must be strictly prohibited.”