Pansipit river suddenly dries up, road cracks increase as Taal continues to erupt

Residents of Taal, Batangas, were surprised when the Pansipit River suddenly dried up this morning as Taal Volcano continues to erupt, Wednesday.

Pansipit River before and after Taal Volcano Eruption
Pansipit River before and after Taal Volcano Eruption

People living in Brgy. Tatlong Maria said they were just catching fish in the river yesterday. The water level in the rivers in the nearby Brgy. Cawit also lowered.

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The residents said they are taking advantage of the incident to get fishes from Taal Lake, such as tilapia. They said it is a great help because they cannot find stores to buy food.

Meanwhile, others sell the fishes they catch from the river.

Read: DOH warns public not to buy, eat fishes from Taal Lake

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Pansipit River is connected to Taal Lake. The river is the sole drainage outlet of Taal Lake, which empties to Balayan Bay. The river stretches about 9 kilometers passing along the towns of Agoncillo, Lemery, San Nicolas, and Taal, serving as a border between the communities.

Road cracks increase, Pansipit River suddenly dries up as Taal continues to erupt

Residents are also worried as the number of road cracks increases four days after Taal Volcano erupted.

A series of road cracks and fissures from Taal bypass road going to the town of Lemery could be seen.

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Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the cracks emerging Batangas roads indicate that magma or molten rock is moving toward the Taal volcano.

“Ito nao-observe natin na tuloy-tuloy na paglindol na malalaki kasama na ’yung fissuring ay naghuhudyat na meron talagang magma na umaakyat pa sa Taal,” Mariton Bornas, chief of the Phivolcs’ volcano monitoring and eruption prediction division, told media.

(What we are observing now — the earthquakes and the fissures — are signs that magma is still rising in Taal.)

Phivolcs recorded up to 240 quakes around Taal Volcano and nearby areas yesterday.

According to Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum, 140 of these were felt.