The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) lowered the Alert Level Status of the Taal Volcano to Alert Level 2 (decreased unrest) on Saturday, April 9.
The downgrade was due after the unrest in the volcano has significantly declined over the past two weeks when it was on Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest) and under strict observation.
This follows the phreatomagmatic eruption on March 26, Saturday, and six weak phreatomagmatic bursts until March 31, Thursday.
Since the March 26 eruption, only 86 volcanic earthquakes of small magnitude have been recorded since then.
PHIVOLCS said that the activities in the past two weeks can be characterized as a significant drop in volcanic degassing from the main crater which causes the incidence of volcanic earthquakes.
It also noted that the sulfur dioxide emissions peaked at 21, 211 tons per day on March 16, suddenly dropped last Sunday, April 3 where the emissions are at 240 tons per day on average and it even dropped to 103 tons on Friday, April 8, the lowest flux recorded since the unrest began in 2021.
PHIVOLCS also emphasizes that the downgrade of the alert level of a tall volcano means the unrest has stopped or the threat of eruption disappeared, it only meant it has decreased its activity.
There is also a chance to downgrade the alert level to one if the downtrend continues or bring it back up to alert level three if the volcanic activity escalates.
