The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Sunday, June 4, reported an increased and continuous degassing activity from Taal Volcano.
“Since 10:30 p.m. of 3 June 2023, increased degassing activity from Taal Volcano in the form of visible upwelling of volcanic fluids in the Main Crater Lake produced voluminous steam-rich plumes that rose to 3,000 meters above Taal Volcano Island or TVI,” Phivolcs said in an advisory.
This produced significant volcanic smog or “vog” over Taal Caldera.
On Sunday morning, residents of the municipalities of Balete, Laurel, and Agoncillo in Batangas reported the presence of vog in their areas.
“DOST-PHIVOLCS reminds the public that Alert Level 1 prevails over Taal Volcano, which means that it is still in abnormal condition and should not be interpreted to have ceased unrest nor ceased the threat of eruptive activity,” Phivolcs noted.
“At Alert Level 1, sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas can occur and threaten areas within TVI,” it added.
Phivolcs recorded a total of 5,381 tones per day of volcanic sulfur dioxide gas emission from the Taal Main Crater on June 1, which was higher than last month’s average of 3,566 tonnes per day. CF