Taal Volcano emitted a minor phreatic eruption early Thursday afternoon, based on the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
“A minor phreatic eruption from Taal Volcano Island’s Main Crater occurred at 12:39 p.m. “Today, September 26, 2024, was captured by the thermal camera of the Daang Kastila Observation Station (VTDK),” Phivolcs wrote on Facebook.
The event, known locally as “pusngat,” created a 2400-meter-high eruption plume that moved northwest, according to Phivolcs.
At 1:59 a.m. on Wednesday, the volcano released another mild phreatic eruption forming a 600-meter-high plume that moved southwest.
A phreatic eruption involves a “steam-driven explosion that occurs when water, within the ground or on the surface is heated by magma, lava, hot rocks, or new volcanic deposits (for example, tephra and pyroclastic-flow deposits),” according to Phivolcs.
According to Phivolcs, the disturbance is unlikely to escalate to a magmatic eruption given the background levels of volcanic earthquake activity and confirmed ground deformation.
In the previous 24 hours, state volcanologists also identified two volcanic shocks spanning three to nine minutes.
Since Wednesday, September 25, authorities have not seen any dangerous volcanic fog, or “vog,” over the volcano.
However, Phivolcs noticed the continuous “upwelling of hot volcanic fluids in the Main Crater Lake” of Taal Volcano Island (TVI), also known as “Pulo,” which sits amid Taal Lake.
Taal Volcano is at alert level 1 (low level of volcanic unrest), according to Phivolcs.
The agency cautioned the public that Taal Volcano is still in an “abnormal condition” and “should not be interpreted to have ceased unrest or the threat of eruptive activity.”