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Taal volcano update: ESA reveals the bright red crater seen within the volcano in new satellite image

Free-Photos / Pixabay

The Taal volcano in the Philippines remains to be on the verge of eruption, and surrounding areas have been locked down to prevent any more locals from staying within the vicinity of the volcano. A new report reveals that the European Space Agency or ESA released some images taken from the satellite, showing the bright red crater in the volcano.

Express reports that last week, the agency managed to take a photo of the Philippine volcano from above with the Sentinel-2 satellite. The image taken from above showed the appearance of a bright red activity within the volcano’s crater, as well as a lot of ash covering the island where the volcano is located. The dormant volcano erupted a few weeks prior, making it the first eruption in 43 years and ash rained over the surrounding cities of the Batangas region where the volcano is located, as well as parts of southern Metro Manila.

The eruption caused residents of the surrounding areas to evacuate. The local authorities have reported that the volcanic activity going on within the volcano has since subsided over the weekend. However, due to the constant low-frequency earthquakes that occur, the possibility of eruption still stands, as the earthquakes are an indicator of magma moving deep underground.

Residents have since been warned by the authorities not to approach the volcano within a distance of 4.3 miles or seven kilometers. The Taal volcano remains to be on alert level four, indicating that an explosive eruption may occur at any time. It should also be mentioned that the Philippines is within the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the earthquakes and active volcanoes are from.

Previously, the International Space Station managed to take a photo of the ash spewing from the Taal volcano. Astronaut Christina Koch shared the satellite image on Twitter and wrote, “Keeping watch on the volatile Taal volcano in the Philippines...Just south of Manila, it stands out ash-covered and otherworldly in the middle of Taal lake against the surrounding green highlands.”

How far the ashfalls will go will depend on the wind forecast, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. If the ash plume is still below five kilometers, then the ash will drift into the municipalities west and northwest of the crater, but if an eruption does occur, then the ash plumes will reach the western regions of Laguna and Quezon.

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