Taal Volcano (; ) is a large caldera filled by Taal Lake in the Philippines. Located in the province of Batangas about south of Manila, the volcano is the second most active volcano in the country with 38 recorded historical eruptions, all of which were concentrated on Volcano Island, near the middle of Taal Lake. The caldera was formed by prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BP.
Taal Volcano has had several violent eruptions in the past, causing deaths on the island and the populated areas surrounding the lake, with an overall death toll of about 6,000. Because of its proximity to populated areas and its eruptive history, the volcano was designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of close study to prevent future natural disasters.
Etymology
Taal Volcano was known as Bombou or Bombon in the 1800s.
The municipality of Taal and the Taa-lan River (now known as Pansipit River) were named after the Taa-lan tree, which grows along the river. The tree also grew along the shore of Bombon Lake (now known as Taal Lake). The Taa-lan River was a narrow channel that connects the present-day Taal Lake and Balayan Bay to each other.
Taal is a Tagalog word in the Batangueño dialect that means true, genuine, and pure.
Geography
Taal Volcano is part of a chain of volcanoes lining the western edge of the island of Luzon. They were formed by the subduction of the Eurasian Plate underneath the Philippine Mobile Belt. Taal Lake lies within a caldera formed by explosive eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BP. Each of these eruptions created extensive ignimbrite deposits reaching as far away as present-day Manila.
Taal Volcano and Lake are entirely located in the province of Batangas. The northern half of Volcano Island falls under the jurisdiction of the lake shore town of Talisay, and the southern half in San Nicolas. The other communities that encircle Taal Lake include the cities of Tanauan and Lipa, and the municipalities of Talisay, Laurel, Agoncillo, Santa Teresita, San Nicolas, Alitagtag, Cuenca, Balete, and Mataasnakahoy.
Permanent settlement on the island is prohibited by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), declaring the whole Volcano Island as a high-risk area and a Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ). Despite the warnings, some families remain settled on the island, earning a living by fishing and farming crops in the rich volcanic soil.
Since the formation of the caldera, subsequent eruptions have created a volcanic island within the caldera, known as Volcano Island. This island covers an area of about with the center of the island occupied by the Main Crater with a single crater lake formed from the 1911 eruption. The island consists of different overlapping cones and craters, of which forty-seven have been identified. Twenty six of these are tuff cones, five are cinder cones, and four are maars. The Main Crater Lake on Volcano Island is the largest lake on an island in a lake on an island in the world. This lake used to contain Vulcan Point, a small rocky island inside the lake. After the 2020 eruption, the Main Crater Lake temporarily disappeared due to volcanic activity, but had returned by March 2020.
Eruptions
Pre-20th century
There were 54 recorded eruptions at Taal between 1572 and 1977. The first recorded eruption occurred in 1572, the year Augustinian friars founded the town of Taal on the shores of the lake (on what is now San Nicolas, Batangas). In 1591, another mild eruption took place, producing great masses of smoke from the crater. From 1605 to 1611, the volcano displayed such great activity that Father Tomas de Abreu had a huge cross of anubing wood erected on the brink of the crater.
Between 1707 and 1731, the center of volcanic activity shifted from the Main Crater to other parts of Volcano Island. The eruptions of 1707 and 1715 occurred in Binintiang Malaki (Giant Leg) crater, the cinder cone visible from Tagaytay Ridge, and was accompanied by thunder and lightning. Minor eruptions also occurred in Binintiang Munti crater on the westernmost tip of the island in 1709 and 1729. A more violent event happened on September 24, 1716, blowing out the entire southeastern portion of the crater of Calauit, opposite Mount Macolod. Father Manuel de Arce noted that the 1716 eruption "killed all the fishes...as if they had been cooked, since the water had been heated to a degree that it appeared to have been taken from a boiling caldron". The 1731 eruption off Pira-Piraso, the eastern tip of the island, created a new island.