The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported on Sunday that there is an increased degassing activity over Taal Volcano.
The degassing activity was last recorded on June 3 at around 10:30PM.
“This led to a visible upswell of volcanic fluids that produced steam-rich plumes rising up to 3,000 meters above Taal’s main crater lake,” Phivolcs said.
“This produced significant volcanic smog or ‘vog’ over Taal Caldera. Vog was reported this morning by residents of the municipalities of Balete, Laurel, and Agoncillo, Batangas,” it added.
State volcanologists said that gas emission released last night is higher compared to previous months.
“A total of 5,831 tonnes/day of volcanic sulfur dioxide or SO2 gas emission from the Taal Main Crater was recorded last 1 June 2023, which was higher than last month’s average of 3,556 tonnes/day,” it added.
Phivolcs also warned against exposure to vog or droplets that contain sulfur dioxide, an acidic volcanic gas which irritates the eyes, throat, and respiratory tract.
“Pregnant women, the elderly, children, and individuals with asthma, lung disease, and heart disease may be particularly sensitive to vog,“ it warned.
Despite the degassing activity, Alert Level 1 is still raised over Taal Volcano.
