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Active Volcanoes in the Philippines

Kara Santos

With Taal Volcano’s ongoing eruption, everybody’s on edge. Thousands of residents who live near the lake have been displaced and animals have been abandoned on the island. The landscape of Taal’s Volcano Island will probably never be the same again.

View of Taal Lake from Tagaytay (pre-2020 eruption)

It’s scary to think of what could happen in the future. It makes you wonder how prepared we are considering that the Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, most of which are volcanic in origin. In fact, there are at least 300 volcanoes in the country.

Pacific Ring of Fire

All of the volcanoes in the Philippines are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a major area in the Pacific Ocean where many of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), about 90% of the world’s earthquakes and all but three of the world’s 25 largest volcanic eruptions occurred along the Ring of Fire.

There are 452 volcanoes in the Ring of Fire including The Andes in South America, Popocatepetl in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Mt. Saint Helens in the US Pacific North West, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Mt. Fuji in Japan, Krakatoa in the Indonesia Island Arc and Mt. Ruapehu in New Zealand.

Most Active Volcanoes in the Philippines

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), at least twenty-four (24) of these volcanoes are active or potentially active, while the rest are dormant. Based on documented eruptions over the years, the six most active volcanoes are:

  1. Mayon – since 1616, Mayon has erupted 47 times
  2. Taal – since the sixteenth century, Taal has erupted more than 30 times
  3. Kanlaon – erupted 30 times since 1819
  4. Bulusan – erupted 15 times since 1885
  5. Hibok-Hibok – erupted five times in modern history
  6. Pinatubo – erupted in 1991 after being dormant for 600 years. From June 12 to June 16, 1991, the volcano erupted four times

Active and Potentially Active Volcanoes in the Philippines

For reference purposes, here’s a look at the 24 active and potentially active volcanoes in the Philippines including their elevation, location, surrounding cities / municipalities, and their last known eruptions. I also included volcano safety tips provided by official advisories on what to do in case a volcano erupts in your area.

Babuyan Claro

Also known as Mount Pangasun, Babuyan Claro is a potentially active volcano located on Babuyan Island, the northernmost of the Babuyan group of islands in Luzon Strait, north of the main island of Luzon in the Philippines

Banahaw

Banahaw is a three-peaked volcano complex and the tallest mountain in the CALABARZON region. Considered by many as a holy mountain, Banahaw is a popular hiking destination among pilgrims and mountaineers.

Biliran

Biliran is a solfataric active volcano located in the small island-province of the same name just North of Leyte. The volcano caused the formation of this island.

Bud Dajo

Photo by Icefirexd 

Bud Dajo or Mount Dajo is the second-highest point in the province of Sulu. It is one of the cinder cones that make up the island of Jolo and part of the Jolo Volcanic Group of islands.

Bulusan

Mount Bulusan or Bulusan Volcano is Southernmost volcano in Luzon located in the province of Sorsogon. Four craters and hot springs are located around the mountain. Bulusan has erupted 15 times since 1885 and is considered as the 4th most active volcano in the country after Mayon, Taal, and Kanlaon.

Cabalian

Cabalian Volcano is located in the province of Southern Leyte. A wide lake known as Cabalian Lake or Lake Danao occupies the summit crater of the volcano. 

Cagua

Photo source

Cagua is one of the active volcanoes in the Philippines located in Cagayan in the northernmost part of the Sierra Madre mountain range. The volcano is topped by a 1.5-kilometer (1 mi) wide crater marked by sharp and precipitous walls.

Camiguin de Babuyanes

Camiguin de Babuyanes is an active stratovolcano on Camiguin Island, part of the Babuyan Islands group. The volcano and the island is within the jurisdiction of the town of Calayan.

Didicas

Didicas Volcano is an active volcanic island in the province of Cagayan in the northern Philippines. The island, which was a submarine volcano re-emerged from the sea in 1952, 22 km NE of Camiguin Island in the Babuyan Group of Islands.

Hibok-Hibok

Mount Hibok-Hibok is a stratovolcano in Camiguin in Northern Mindanao. This volcano contains six hot springs (Ardent Spring, Tangob, Bugong, Tagdo, Naasag and Kiyab), three craters (Kanangkaan Crater, site of the 1948 eruption; Itum Crater, site of 1949 eruption, and Ilihan Crater, site of 1950 eruption).

Iraya

Mount Iraya is located on Batan Island, one of the Batanes Islands, in the province of Batanes. It is the northernmost active volcano in the Philippines and is considered a sacred mountain for the Ivatan people. 

Iriga

Mount Iriga, also known as Mount Asog, is a stratovolcano about a kilometer from Lake Buhi. It has a large crater probably formed from a huge eruption.

Isarog

Mount Isarog is a potentially active stratovolcano in the province of Camarines Sur. The mountain has been the ancestral domain of the indigenous Isarog Agta people for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the Spanish.

Kanlaon

Kanla-on or Canlaon, is an active stratovolcano on the island of Negros, located 30 km southeast of Bacolod. Kanlaon is the highest point in Negros, as well as the whole Visayas. The volcano is a favorite spot for mountain climbers and is the centerpiece of Mount Kanlaon Natural Park.

Leonard Kniaseff

Photo source

Leonard Kniazeff is a stratovolcano located between the towns of Mabini and Maco in the province of Compostela Valley in Mindanao. It has a 203-kilometer diameter caldera lake called Lake Leonard. It’s been the object of a geothermal exploration program.

Makaturing

Butig Nature’s View in Lanao del Sur

Mount Makaturing is a stratovolcano in the town of Butig in the province of Lanao del Sur in Mindanao. Makaturing has an elevation of 1,940 metres (6,365 ft) and a base diameter of 29 km (18 mi).

Matutum

Photo by Engr. Mervin Martinez Gonzales

Matutum is a stratovolcano in South Cotabato. It contains 2 hot springs and a well-preserved 320-meter wide crater at the volcano’s summit. The crater is breached by three gorges and has a 120-metre (390 ft) deep, densely forested floor.

Mayon

Mayon Volcano or Mount Mayon is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay, world-renowned for its “perfect cone” because of its symmetrical shape. Mayon is the highest point of the province of Albay and region, and serves as a major landmark for the whole Bicol Region. It is ranked as the most active volcano in the Philippines, erupting 47 times since 1616.

Musuan

Photo by Kleomarlo 

Musuan Peak or Mount Musuan, also known as Mount Calayo (meaning “Fire Mountain”) is an active volcano in Bukidnon, in the island of Mindanao. It’s located 4.5 km south of the city of Valencia and 81 km southeast of Cagayan de Oro City.

Parker (Mélébingóy)

Mount Parker, locally known as Mount Mélébingóy, is located in the province of South Cotabato, 30 km west of General Santos City and 44 km south of Koronadal City. The volcano’s English name is taken from an American, General Frank Parker, who claimed to have “discovered” it during a flight he piloted in 1934. The mountain has a 2.9-km wide caldera with steep walls that rise 200-500m above the lake known as Lake Hólón. The mountain and lake are considered one of the sacred places of the Tboli tribe.

Pinatubo

Mount Pinatubo is located on the tripoint boundary of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga in Central Luzon. Once covered with dense forests that supported a population of several thousand indigenous Aetas, Pinatubo’s eruption on June 15, 1991 changed the landscape forever. Pinatubo is known as one of the most destructive volcanoes in the world. The 1991 eruption was the second-largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska. The crater lake was formed from the caldera filling with water from annual monsoon rains.

Ragang

Photo by TrekkerTrail

Mount Ragang, also called Mount Piapayungan and Blue Mountain by the local people, is the highest point in Lanao del Sur and the seventh highest mountain in the Philippines. It is the most active volcano on Mindanao and part of a string of volcanoes in what volcanologists call the Central Mindanao Arc.

Smith (Mount Babuyan)

Aerial view of Smith Volcano (foreground) on the western part of Babuyan Island with Babuyan Claro in the background

Smith Volcano, also known as Mount Babuyan, is located on Babuyan Island, the northernmost of the Babuyan group of islands. Smith Volcano has erupted six times, the last of which was in 1924.

Taal

Taal 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. As of January 2020, seismic activity is currently ongoing.

Volcano safety tips

What to do during a volcanic eruption

Protection from falling ash

References and further reading

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