The Philippines' second most active volcano on Monday spewed steam-laden plumes reaching 1 kilometre high following days of volcanic earthquakes, the government's volcanology institute said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has monitored hundreds of quakes since last week at Taal Volcano in Batangas province, 66 kilometres south of Manila. "Low-level background tremors" have also persisted since April 8, the institute said in its bulletin. On Monday, an "upwelling of hot volcanic fluids in (the volcano's) lake.... generated plumes that reached 1 kilometre tall," while sulphur dioxide emissions remained high amid steady ground deformation, the bulletin added.
"These parameters indicate persistent magmatic activity at shallow depths beneath the edifice," Phivolcs said, adding that alert level two remained at Taal.
"Sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall, and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas can occur and threaten areas within and around (the volcano island),"it added. - dpa
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