The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has lowered down the alert level over Taal Volcano due to decreasing activities.
Phivolcs deescalated Taal Volcano from Alert Level 2 to 1 or low-level unrest. The agency said that in the last two months, the volcano was observed to have “baseline volcanic earthquake activity, stabilizing ground deformation of the Taal Caldera and Taal Volcano Island edifices. Volcanologists also observed weak degassing and surface activity at the Main Crater.
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The agency however warns that amid the lowering of alert level sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas can still occur especially in the Taal Volcano island.
“DOST-PHIVOLCS is lowering the alert status of Taal Volcano from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1 to reflect the overall decrease in the level of monitoring parameters. Alert Level 1 means that the volcano is still in abnormal condition and should not be interpreted that unrest has ceased or that the threat of an eruption has disappeared,” it said.
From seven volcanic events from January to May 2022 the volcano has no or zero events in June.
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“The sustained seismic quiescence for the past month indicates that degassing and rock-fracturing processes related to magmatic activity beneath TVI have abated, and that the possibilities of magma intrusion into the Main Crater have significantly decreased,” it said.
The low emission of sulfur dioxide is also among the factors on the lowered alert level.
“Such low concentrations are consistent with weakened degassing from magma beneath TVI and volcanic gas being efficiently absorbed by the Main Crater Lake and by Taal’s recovered hydrothermal system,” PHIVOLCS said.
