Taal Volcano erupted five times Wednesday, data from the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology and the Taal Volcano Observatory showed.
The first was a short-lived phreatomagmatic eruption that occurred at the main crater and generated a grayish plume that rose 300 meters high, and followed by four phreatomagmatic bursts and weak eruptions.
The last eruption, according to the Taal Volcano Observatory, was recorded at 11:56 a.m. and generated a 200-meter dark gray plume.
However, the level of sulfur dioxide being emitted by Taal Volcano, which has been placed under Alert Level 3, has been decreasing in the past few days, Batangas governor Hermilando Mandanas said Wednesday.
“We have closely monitored this and the level of sulfur dioxide really went down. Last July 5, the sulfur dioxide covered as much as three kilometers,” Mandanas said during the Laging Handa briefing.
From 22,300 tons per day, the level is now down to 7,500 tons, Mandanas said.
“[But] this is not yet over. We need to stay alert because magma from the volcano is still flowing,” the governor added.
In the past 24-hour period, the Taal Volcano Network recorded 55 volcanic earthquakes, including one explosion-type quake, 44 low frequency volcanic quakes, and five volcanic tremor events.
Meanwhile, the vaccination of residents against COVID-19 in areas affected by Taal Volcano’s unrest continues, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said.
“The National Capital Region allotted 3,500 vaccine doses for the evacuation centers in Batangas,” Año told President Rodrigo Duterte during a pre-recorded Cabinet meeting Tuesday night.