Taal Volcano Erupts, 6.000 Residents Evacuated

JAKARTA –Taal Volcano erupted and spewed out volcanic materials such as ash and rocks up to 1 kilometre in Batangas, Philippines, Sunday (12/1). Local authority has issued a warning to the local residents and visitors to evacuate immediately from three regions close to the mount, namely Tagaytay, Batangas and Cavite. 

 

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has determined volcanic alert level 4 since Sunday (12/1), which means the eruption could happen in the coming hours or days. 

 

Phivolcs also recorded volcanic earthquake that are felt and booming sounds were heard around the crater and some villages in Agoncillo, Batangas.

  

According to official information from Phivolcs to media, volcanic materials covered southern areas. 

 

Until today, there is no report related with casualties in the affected areas. 

 

Local government encourage the local residents to use dust mask because the volcanic ash due to eruption is very thick.

 

Based on a temporary report, there is no volcanic ash beyond Indonesia territory, from the closest range to Philippine’s border namely Sangihe in North Sulawesi. 

 

The Philippines Government Evacuate the Residents.

 

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the local residents to be evacuated. The national government gives a guarantee with the local governments to make safety of the residents as main priority. 

 

“Since Sunday (12/1) at 05.30 PM local time, around 6.000 residents have been evacuated using boats, ships, from volcano island to Nicolas, Talisay, Agoncillo and Laurel until today,” Alex Masiglat said, the spokesperson of the NDRRMC in Batangas. 

 

Afterwards, NDRRMC reported that 6.000 residents have been evacuated to Batangas, most of them are from San Nicolas, Balete and Talisay.

 

The local government also evacuated the residents to close of a lake in Batangas and Tagaytay, Province of Cavite, which is the most sightseeing spot of the Taal Volcano.

 

The secretary of Tourism authority, Bernadette Romullo-Puyat has asked tourists to leave the Tagaytay-Batangas-Cavite location for security reasons. Local tourists secure themselves by using umbrellas as volcanic ash continues to fall due to eruption.

 

"The sky turns brownish red and we can hear the grains of dust mixed with gravel falling on the roof," said Lawrence Ramos, a citizen of Dasmarinas City, Cavite Province, which is about 30 kilometers from the volcano.

 

The volcanic dust also covered Silang and Amadeo in Cavite and Calamba, Santa Rosa and San Pedro City in Laguna Province. A number of schools in the Calabarzon, Central Luson and Metro Manila regions were closed for safety reasons.

 

Increasing Alert Status of Taal Volcano

Sunday (12/1) Phivolcs raised the alert status from level two to level three with an indication of the intrusion of a significant level increase from the magma kitchen. Level 5 is the highest and indicates that an eruption has occurred.

 

In its development, Phivolcs issued a statement that the eruption could last for days or even weeks.

 

Phivolcs warned the community to stay away from the volcano island located in the middle of the lake where the volcano is located, and called on the nearby coastal communities "to take precautionary measures and be alert to possible disruption of lake water related to ongoing eruptions."

 

The director of Phivolcs, Renato Solidum, said the volcano has shown moderate to high seismic activity since March last year.

 

On Sunday, Phivolcs recorded three earthquakes, the first at 7:35 am followed by two more at 10:43 am and 2.00 in the morning local time.

 

Seismic activity, or a series of seismic events in the area occurred in a short time, starting around 11:00 am local time and continuing for several hours.

 

At 1:00 in the morning a phreatic eruption caused by hydrothermal activity began in the main crater of Taal which spewed ash and steam rising as high as 100 meters.

 

Allan Loza, a science research specialist at Phivolcs, said that the phreatic explosion had historically occurred before the big eruption.

 

"But there are some examples of cases when the symptoms did not occur. Therefore we must continue to monitor, "he added.

 

Phivolcs said he also observed the deformation of the structure of the volcano during the eruption.

 

Flights Cancelled

All flights fly over around the volcano  were cancelled due to safety and security reason because volcanic ash was identified distributed in air. 

 

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Authority in Manila tells airlines to cancel flights for safety and security reasons.

 

Therefore, prospective passengers were asked to contact the airline for further coordination until the flight ban appeal was lifted.

 

For information, Taal is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 34 recorded eruptions and the last occurred in 1977 and did not cause casualties or damage.

 

The two of the most destructive eruptions of the Taal eruption occurred in 1911, killing 1,335 people, and in 1965, killing around 200 in nearby villages.

 

Taal volcano is a stratovolcano and is one of the smallest volcanoes in the world. The volcano which is the background of Katty Pery's video clip in her song "Roar" is one of about two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, located in the "Ring of Fire," an active seismic region on earth that is vulnerable to earthquakes and eruptions volcano.

 

Agus Wibowo

Head of Data, Information and Disaster Communication Center BNPB