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Phivolcs has a very good website, but understandably, they do not have the resources to update reports on every single volcano in the Philippines. So, as a help to Phivolcs ( DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF VOLCANOLOGY AND SEISMOLOGY) , I have put this page up. You can help this effort by e-mailing me at sailphi@i-manila.com.ph any info that you may have, especially links to other sites, and current news articles in daily newspapers.
The info on this page
is all "Unofficial" although much of it is from very official sources.
Unless given express permission by the person who wrote the statement,
nobody is authorized to copy this info and present it as official info.
For
a list of websites I have found that contain other useful info, click HERE
Click on these blue links below to view the articles. Articles are sometimes edited, editors notes are in italics colored red.
Date
source
Description
Mar 24 1999
Manila Standard
PHIVOLCS: NO NEED TO PANIC OVER TAAL
Mar
1 1999 Daily Inquirer
Taal Simmers Down
Feb 28 1999
Daily Inquirer
Where There's Smoke - PDI news
Feb
24 1999 E. Ramos (Phivolcs)
E-mail to Peter about current situation at Taal Volcano
Feb
23 1999 C. Pablo (Daily Inquirer)
Taal Volcano getting Restive - PDI news
Nov
8 1998 Giselle Goloy
UP volcanology class outing inside Taal Crater
There’s no need to panic, much less a reason to issue an alarm. Thus said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) yesterday in reaction to reports that Taal Volcano is showing signs of an imminent explosion.
Philvolcs officials admitted Taal has been spewing hot mud since Friday last week, but this does not indicate the volcano is about to explode.
Ernesto Corpuz, chief of Philvolcs volcanic monitoring, said the activity, called mud fountaining, only shows that volcano is at the state of “low level unrest.” There is no need for an alarm, he added.
But Orlando Guardacaza, resident volcanologist in Talisay, Batangas, reported that local authourities have started warning local residents and even blocking some roads leading to Tagaytay.
Philvolcs officials urged local authorities not to mislead people living near or going to the volcano so as not to create panic.
They also appealed to Batangas residents to help in monitoring Taal’s activities by not stealing the monitoring devices especially the batteries of Philvolcs equipment.
JING VILLAMENTE
erupted in 1977 though seismic tremors occurred in 1992.
As an update, here goes:
We observed some mud fountaining near the NE shore of the Main Crater
Lake
last Friday, around 1 pm. The event centers on a small, few
meters
diameter, crater, possibly an old and smaller one and recently reactivated
by this activity. The event lasted only a few hours, and some
vigorous
steaming had since occupied the newly revived crater. Now,
the crater had
enlarged to about 6X4 meters and is occupied by a hot (~90 degrees
C) and
acidic (pH ~2.5) pool of bubling water. You can watch the
video clips
tonight at channel 9. Apparently, similar events occurred the day
before
(Thursday) and after (Saturday) the event. No significant
change in
temperatures and tilt were recorded, nor any seismic activity noted
during
these events.
Also, similar events occurred in August last year,in the same craterlet,
and
lasting only a few days. The people who sell softdrinks up
on the crater
rim informed us that they have observed similar events from the
same spot in
the past few months.
In terms of long term changes, we only notice some deformation from
our
continuous GPS sites, indicating some shift in the character of
deformation,
from an extended (many months) period of deflation, to a recently
started
inflation (since December 1998).
We do not know how these events will turn out, and we are still watching.
Remember that we had some seismic crisis in 1992 (with fissures
forming in
the northern slope of the volcano) and in 1994 (with fissures forming
in the
southeastern slope). Whether the recent events are related
to the 1992 and
1994 events is not yet clear.
We can probably be more informed as we get more information from the field.
manoling
Editors notes: It seems that this "geysering"
activity has been going on for about 6 months, and there have been no earthquakes,
so although the volcano bears watching, it could very well be that some
of the water in the craterlake has simply found its way to a long existing
vent and so the water and mud is boiling around the vent. If this continues,
it will make the trek into the crater even more worthwhile because we'll
have our own "Old Faithful" style geyser.
Phivolcs
Main Index Page -http://www.philonline.com/~seismo/index.html-
an excelent page that is essential to visit.
