Taal Volcano Eruptions: a Historical Record
Below is a record of the eruptions of Taal Volcano dating back to the dawn of the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. The data is taken from the web site of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)1.
For the benefit of the reader, here are brief descriptions of the types of eruption manifested by Taal Volcano down the centuries:
Phreatic Eruption: this is an explosion of “steam, water, ash, rock and volcanic bombs” that occurs “when magma heats ground water or surface water2.”
Phreatomagmatic Eruption: this type of eruption results “from interaction between magma and water” and it differs from a phreatic eruption in that its explosion contains clasts or fragments of magma3.
Strombolian Eruption: a type of eruption characterized by “relatively mild blasts” consisting of incandescent fragments of rocks, small tephra and lava bombs4.
 |
| Taal Volcano seen from the shores of San Nicolas. (File photo) |
TAAL VOLCANO ERUPTIONS
| YEAR | DAY | TYPE |
| 1572 | – | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1591 | – | Phreatic |
| 1605 | – | |
| 1634 | – | |
| 1635 | – | |
| 1641 | – | Phreatic |
| 1645 | – | |
| 1707 | – | Phreatic |
| 1709 | – | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1715 | – | |
| 1716 | – | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1729 | – | |
| 1731 | – | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1749 | 11 August | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1754 | 15 May | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1790 | – | |
| 1808 | – | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1825 | – | |
| 1842 | – | |
| 1873 | – | |
| 1874 | – | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1878 | – | Phreatic |
| 1903 | – | |
| 1904 | – | Phreatic |
| 1911 | 27 January | |
| 1965 | 28 September | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1966 | 5 July | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1967 | 16 August | Phreatomagmatic |
| 1968 | 31 January | Strombolian (for review) |
| 1969 | 29 October | Strombolian (for review) |
| 1970 | 3 September | Phreatic |
| 1976 | 3 September | Phreatic |
| 1977 | 3 October | Phreatic |
| 2020 | 12 January | Phreatomagmatic |
Notes and references:
1 “Eruption History,” online at PHIVOLCS.2 “Phreatic eruption,” Wikipedia.
3 “Phreatomagmatic eruption,” Wikipedia.
4 “Strombolian eruption,” Wikipedia.