The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs maintained the Alert Level 4 status of Taal volcano as the number of earthquakes near the area rose to 787 in the past 24 hours.
Phivolcs said that the Taal Volcano Network tallied this number, including 15 low-frequency earthquakes which signify “continuous magmatic intrusion beneath the Taal edifice, which may lead to further eruptive activity.”
The Philippine Seismic Network, on the other hand, recorded 691 volcanic earthquakes since January 12.
The earthquakes’ magnitude ranges from magnitudes 1.2 to 4.1. State volcanologists warn that a hazardous explosive eruption may still occur within hours or days.
“We are looking at all of the scenarios and lagi po nating ina-assess hourly at daily ‘yong monitoring ng data at applicability ng alert level. At kami na po ang magsasabi kung kailangan na tayong magbaba,” Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division Chief Mariton Bornas said
“Nagkakaroon pa rin po tayo ng minor eruptions, walang sign na malakas as of the moment. Maaaring magkaroon pa rin ng phreatomagmatic eruptions,” Bornas added.
Phivolcs reminds the public not to relax just yet. The agency said that the increased number of quakes could indicate that the magmatic chamber has opened up.
“Medyo nababagabag kami sa aming nakalap na monitoring data. Kapag nag-umpisa ulit ang eruption napakaliit ng lead time lalo na ngayong nabuklat na ang bulkan kasi nung una, closed system pa siya…so mas lala na po ngyon na open na ang bulkan, mabilis na po ang pagsampa ng magma, wala nang pumipigil sa kanya na pressure,” Bornas revealed.
“PHILVOLCS warns the public..”, perhaps they should also warn the govt. not to be lax? They should be creating evacuation plans and should have accessible vehicles which could pickup and transport evacuees all at the same time, if the volcano erupts. They should rebuild routes FAST and plan which routes to pass thru as to avoid clogged roads, designation which routes would be taken, etc. Should have evac. areas in NCR or at the North. Yes easy to said than done but we should plan ahead.
already doing it… wag mo igaya ang kasalukuyang administrasyon sa mga naunang bulok at corrupt mag mula kay aquino hanggang kay abnoy na panot… di ba nakita ng mata mo na lahat ng agency ng gobyerno lahat kumikilos ng mas mabilis at nasa koordinasyon ang bawat isa… eh kung ikaw kaya eh makipagmerge sa mga government agency at tumulong para sa sinsabi mo na plan plan di nakakatulong ka pa… di puro ka lang salita… para ka lang yellotards eh hinihepa na sa sobrang dilaw