page_title: Taal Volcano
section_title: Pre-20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Taal Volcano / History / Eruptions / Pre-20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Binintiang Malaki volcanic cone of Taal volcano in the Philippines.
context_page_description: Taal Volcano is a large caldera filled by Taal Lake in the Philippines. Located in the province of Batangas, the volcano is the second most active volcano in the Philippines, with 34 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.
  Viewed from the Tagaytay Ridge in Cavite, Taal Volcano and Lake presents one of the most picturesque and attractive views in the Philippines. It is located about 50 kilometers south of the capital of the country, the city of Manila. The main crater of Taal Volcano originally had a lake until the explosive 2020 eruption expelled its water; the lake reformed within months in the rainy climate after activity ceased.
  The volcano has had several violent eruptions in the past, causing loss of life on the island and the populated areas surrounding the lake, with the death toll estimated at 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.
context_section_description: There have been 42 recorded eruptions at Taal from 1572 to 1977. The first eruption of which there is any record occurred in 1572, the year the 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, featuring great masses of smoke issuing forth 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 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), accompanied by thunder and lightning. Minor eruptions also emanated from the Binintiang Munti crater on the westernmost tip of the island in 1709 and 1729. A more violent event happened on September 24, 1716, when the whole southeastern portion of the crater of (Calauit), opposite Mount Macolod, was blown out. Father Manuel de Arce noted 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, or the eastern tip of the island, created a new island.
  Activity returned to the Main Crater on August 11, 1749, and it was remembered for being particularly violent (VEI = 4), with eruptions continuing until 1753. Then came the great 200-day eruption of 1754,Taal Volcano's greatest recorded eruption, which lasted from May 15 to Dec 12 The eruption caused the relocation of the towns of Tanauan, Taal, Lipa and  Sala.  The Pansipit River was blocked, causing the water level in the lake to rise.  Father Bencuchillo stated that of Taal, "nothing was left...except the walls of the church and convent...everything was buried beneath a layer of stones, mud, and ashes."
  Taal remained quiet for 54 years except for a minor eruption in 1790. Not until March 1808 did another big eruption occur. While this outbreak was not as violent as the one in 1754, the immediate vicinity was covered with ashes to a depth of 84 centimetres (33 in). It brought great changes in the interior of the crater, according to chroniclers of that time. "Before, the bottom looked very deep and seemed unfathomable, but at the bottom, a liquid mass was seen in continual ebullition. After the eruption, the crater had widened and the pond within it had been reduced to one-third and the rest of the crater floor was higher and dry enough to walk over it. The height of the crater walls has diminished and near the center of the new crater floor, a little hill that continually emitted smoke. On its sides were several wells, one of which was especially remarkable for its size."
  On July 19, 1874, an eruption of gases and ashes killed all the livestock on the island. From November 12–15, 1878, ashes ejected by the volcano covered the entire island. Another eruption took place in 1904, which formed a new outlet in the southeastern wall of the principal crater. As of 12 January 2020, the last eruption from the Main Crater was in 1911, which obliterated the crater floor creating the present lake. In 1965, a huge explosion sliced off a huge part of the island, moving activity to a new eruption center, Mount Tabaro.
caption: The dormant Binintiang Malaki (Big Leg) cone was the center of the 1707 and 1715 eruptions.
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