People watch plumes of smoke and ash rise from as Taal Volcano erupts Sunday Jan. 12, 2020, in Tagaytay, Cavite province, outside Manila, Philippines | Photo by Aaron Favila/ AP
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised the Alert Level 4 over Taal Volcano just hours after it spewed ash.
Alert Level 4 means that “hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days.”
In its bulletin issued 7:30 p.m., Phivolcs said that it is because “eruptive activity at Taal Volcano Main Crater intensified as continuous eruption generated a tall 10-15 kilometer steam-laden tephra column with frequent volcanic lightning that rained wet ashfall on the general north as far as Quezon City.”
According to Phivolcs, volcanic tremor has been recorded continuously since 11 a.m. and two volcanic earthquakes of magnitudes M2.5 and M3.9 were felt at Intensity III in Tagaytay City and Alitagtag, Batangas at 6:15 p.m. and 6:22 p.m., respectively.
Because of this, Phivolcs renewed its call for total evacuation of Taal Volcano Island and other high-risk areas within a 14-kilometer radius from Taal Main Crater.
In Phivolcs’ Taal Volcano Alert Signals, Alert Level 4 means “intense unrest, continuing seismic swarms, including harmonic tremor and/or ‘low frequency earthquakes’ which are usually felt, profuse steaming along existing and perhaps new vents and fissures.”
Phivolcs earlier raised the Taal Volcano alert status to Alert Level 3 from Alert Level 2 at 4 p.m.