Position Paper on Taal Volcano Eruption
By Sop - February 27, 2020
Position Paper on Taal Volcano Eruption
The
Taal Volcano is one of the most of active volcano in the country and it is in
the south of the capital Manila. This volcano is not that big but it is
considered among world’s dangerous volcano. According to National Academies Press,
volcanoes often form important landforms with lofty peak and these landforms
reflect the plate tectonics which make the volcanoes erupt. There are three
types of volcanoes, composite, shield, and dome. Taal Volcano is one example of
shield volcano. Beneath every volcano there are molten rocks which are called
magma. The eruption of magma can be very
violent and can trigger the outer part of the volcano, which can lead to
landslides, earthquakes, and precipitation.
In
the early hours of Monday last January 13, 2020, a weak flow of lava began to
seep out of Taal Volcano. (Jorgio, et al. 2020). According to Philippine
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), they raised an alert to
level four, means ‘explosive eruption’. Moreover, PHIVOLCS urged the people in
the area to evacuate within 17-kilometer radius around the volcano. There are
two zones concerns within the area of the Taal volcano, according to United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The first zone is
around 495,000 people re-aside within the danger zone with a 14-kilometer
radius around the volcano. The other zone is more than 930,000 people live in
wider 17-kilometer danger zone radius around the volcano. In addition, people
started to sought to their shelters and gone to the evacuation center that were
set up by the authorities. The large number of people were more likely to be
higher, but many people still stayed with their family member. The authorities
were helping people who were affected near the eruption and encourage them to
evacuate the area. The authorities sent an army of 20 vehicles with 120
personnel to help the citizens who got stranded by the disaster. The secretary
of the defense urged the residents to not hesitate on leaving their shelter.
The aid operation and organization like Red Cross were assisting on the ground
to help rescue the vehicles and people and give them as much as supplies.
According to Klemetti, the beginning of the eruption of the lava is now
dangerous. It was creating a ‘big lava fountain’ where it can spill into the
nearby towns. And Michalski, the director of the Earth and Planetary Science division at the
University of Hong Kong told the CNN that ashes could kill people and not the
lava itself. The ashes also begun to
fell on several areas and that residents were asked to wear masks. Some of the
pharmacies or stores who sell out masks were began to run out of masks. On the
other hand, vehicles that were travelling to somewhere were covered with ash
mixed with rain and creating a thick black mud in the town. Some people
evacuate immediately to their homes but forgot about their beloved pets and
herd of cows and other farm animals. Not only that, lightning strikes through
the ash that surrounds the crater of the volcano as it erupts and it could have
a severe blow to many farmers and fishermen who live in the area or near the
area. According to Johnson (2020), local
residents were shoveling the thick wet muds from the road. Pineapples groves
were normally luscious; however, it is now grey and lifeless. Besides residents
and vehicles being stranded in the area, several of the planes in Manila
airport got delayed but may take off after the ashes were cleaned. Although the
aircraft of Mr. president Rodrigo Duterte was able to land in the city of Davao
according to his spokesman. After a several days or weeks of the volcanic
eruption of Taal Volcano, some areas of Manila and Quezon City were got
affected also by the ash fall and authorities also advised the citizens to wear
masks. Schools and works were suspended due to the ash fall and asked the
citizens to wear their masks whole day. The government warned the retailers or
sellers to not make the prices of the masks go higher. Furthermore, the Taal
volcano had revised for many months until it suddenly it came back to life,
blasting steam, ash and pebbles falling off up to nine miles into the sky. However according to Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology, the lava of the volcano was spurting from the
volcano’s vents and was falling to the lake surrounding the crater. And that the earthquakes and volcanic
activities are not uncommon in the country and it is along the Ring of Fire,
which is the zone where major seismic activity and has one of the most active
fault line in the world.
The
volcano was seen violent and powerful eruptions before, there was one eruption
in 1754 lasted for six months and it is the deadliest eruption back then. The
eruption continued to have four more minor eruptions in the years. According to
Bornas (2020), chief of volcanic monitoring at PHIVOLCS that the agencies there
had monitored the tremors at the volcano but they did not expect to be this
rapidly speed. The government of volcano monitoring will still continue to
detect swarms of earthquakes and a slight of inflation of portion of the
volcano. The officials advised the residents of the area to stay indoors and
wear masks and goggles whenever they will go outside. As the authorities
mentioned earlier, the public institutions including schools, in towns and
cities announced that they suspended classes including Manila. Thus, the authorities continued monitoring
the tremors and keep the Aid organizers in contact to rescue the citizens of
the area. And reminding the residents to keep indoors and wear their masks.
References:
Queenie Ledesma
Grade 11 - ABM
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