The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) clarified that the powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu is not connected to the eruption of Taal Volcano on Wednesday, October 1.
Phivolcs Director Dr. Teresito Bacolcol explained that Taal Volcano naturally erupts or shows signs of unrest from time to time.
He noted that over 90 phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions have been recorded since April of last year.
Currently, Taal remains under Alert Level 1, indicating an abnormal condition with low-level volcanic unrest.
Phivolcs reminded the public to remain vigilant due to the possibility of sudden eruptions, volcanic earthquakes, light ashfall, and the emission of toxic gases.
The Cebu earthquake occurred late Tuesday evening, just before 10 PM, while the minor phreatomagmatic eruption at Taal was recorded around 2 AM on Wednesday.