Volcano Taal Erupting. Manila Airport Closed

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And rightfully so! But during these types of situations, it is especially important that people receive timely, accurate information.
Look what happened to Mt Agung in Bali. It kept everyone on tender hook for months.
Reality is that NO body know for sure.

I hate to be living around the area.
 
ERUPTION UPDATE FOR TAAL VOLCANO ALERT LEVEL 4 (HAZARDOUS ERUPTION IMMINENT) 14 JANUARY 2020 01:00 PM

Taal Volcano’s eruption has been characterized by continuous magmatic and hydrovolcanic activity. Lava fountains generated 800-meter tall dark gray steam-laden plumes that drifted to the general southwest.

New fissures or cracks were observed in Sinisian, Mahabang Dahilig, Dayapan, Palanas, Sangalang, Poblacion, Lemery; Pansipit, Agoncillo; Poblacion 1, Poblacion 2, Poblacion 3, Poblacion 5, Talisay and Poblacion, San Nicolas. A fissure was also documented across the road connecting Agoncillo to Laurel, Batangas.

The Philippine Seismic Network recorded a total of forty-nine (49) volcanic earthquakes in the Taal region from 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM today. Seven (7) of these earthquakes were felt with intensities ranging from Intensity II to IV in Tagaytay City. The intense seismic activity coupled with fissuring on the caldera region likely signifies continuous magma intrusion beneath the Taal edifice, which may lead to further eruptive activity.

Alert Level 4 still remains in effect over Taal Volcano. This means that hazardous explosive eruption is possible within hours to days. DOST-PHIVOLCS strongly reiterates total evacuation of Taal Volcano Island and areas at high risk to pyroclastic density currents and volcanic tsunami within a 14-kilometer radius from Taal Main Crater. Areas around Taal Volcano are advised to guard against the effects of heavy and prolonged ashfall. Civil aviation authorities must advise the aviation industry to avoid the airspace around Taal Volcano as airborne ash and ballistic fragments from the eruption column pose hazards to aircraft. DOST-PHIVOLCS is continually monitoring the eruption and will update all stakeholders of further developments.

DOST-PHIVOLCS
 
From the Mayors office in Puerto Galera at the time of my post:

"Taal volcano Eruption could be more dangerous than the eruption of Mount Pinatubo philvolcs chief warnes..."

"Renato Solidum warned the volcano has no pattern of eruptions. "Each volcano is different," he said.

He noted that Mt. Pinatubo's escalation of volcanic activity took months in between alert levels. In comparison, he said Taal's volcanic activity rapidly escalated starting 11 a.m. Sunday.

He said in terms of explosiveness, Pinatubo's eruption was stronger but Taal's volcanic activity is more dangerous "because there are more people living near the crater."

"Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who is also the head of the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, recalled that in the Pinatubo eruption, "the entire mountain collapsed."

"That's what we're fearing, that the eruption would cause the entire island to rise and scatter debris on the nearby areas," he said. "Hopefully this won't happen. We can never predict the actions of this volcano."
 
From the Mayors office in Puerto Galera at the time of my post:

"Taal volcano Eruption could be more dangerous than the eruption of Mount Pinatubo philvolcs chief warnes..."

"Renato Solidum warned the volcano has no pattern of eruptions. "Each volcano is different," he said.

He noted that Mt. Pinatubo's escalation of volcanic activity took months in between alert levels. In comparison, he said Taal's volcanic activity rapidly escalated starting 11 a.m. Sunday.

He said in terms of explosiveness, Pinatubo's eruption was stronger but Taal's volcanic activity is more dangerous "because there are more people living near the crater."

Ah yes yes. Sorry, I must have misunderstood the previous post.

I find it kind of crazy that people have continued to live on the inner island (the real Taal volcano) even after the 1977 eruption. Hopefully the 14km radius mandatory evacuation will keep most people out of harm's way, but as you and the Mayor's message correctly point out, the behavior of volcanoes is so unpredictable. The city of Tagaytay, with approx 75,000 residents is (mostly) within the 14km radius, plus many other towns between 14km and 20km radius....

Anyways, I wonder if Taal could still have a large scale explosive eruption. It's been venting for a few days now, and continuous magma fountaining for over 24 hours. I guess, by the very nature of volcanoes, we don't know... and that is the issue, we don't know.

I hope those in the communities near Taal are properly heeding the warnings...
 
So I'll just give a quick update from the news report posted. The wind is expected to change direction on Wednesday. That "may" push ashfall in the direction of Manila. Which will certainly shut down the airport. Among other concerns.
 
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