On the largest island in the Philippines, Luzon rises the Taal Volcano, an active volcano located in San Nicolás and Talisay in Batangas. The island’s volcano, which consists of an island in Lake Taal situated within a caldera that was previously formed by a huge eruption, is located about 50 km from the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
The Taal volcano has erupted many times, several of them violently. These eruptions have caused loss of life and property in the vicinity with a considerable death toll estimated at approximately 5000-6000 victims. Despite the alarming figures, it is considered to be a great place to visit when it is calm and in its least active state due to the elements that make this island unique.
Geological information
Lake Taal, located in the Philippines, is part of a chain of volcanoes found along the western side of the island of Luzon. These volcanoes created by the subduction of the Eurasian plate below the Philippine mobile belt are now active or inactive by nature. Lake Taal, which is home to the volcano, lies within a 25 to 30 km caldera that was formed by four violent and high intensity eruptions anywhere about 500,000 to 100,000 years ago.
Since the formation of the caldera, subsequent eruptions eventually created one more volcanic island within the caldera. This island is known as Volcanic Island and has an area of approximately 23 square kilometers consisting of craters and overlapping cones. So far, 47 different craters and cones have been identified on the island.
The crater and the inner island
Volcano Island, which is already a volcanic island, also contains a lake that is about 2 km wide at its largest axis, this lake is called Crater Lake. Crater Lake, a warm, calm and serene body of water, has within it another volcanic island, and this is called Volcanic Point. This specific volcanic island is known to be the world’s largest island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.
These elements of the Taal volcano make it a unique place to visit when it is not in its most active state. There have been 33 eruptions recorded since 1572, it is now in a dormant state and has been so since 1977, although the volcano has been showing signs of unrest since 1991. This has been evident with relatively strong seismic activity, ground fracture events and the formation of small mud geysers within the different parts of the island.
Even with the apparent state of unrest that the volcano is experiencing, there have been many visits to the island not only from volcanologists and scientists, but also from tourists and the media. Lake Taal presents a unique opportunity to visit one of the wonders of nature that has taken hundreds and thousands of years to create, this uniqueness alone makes this a great place in Paradise Philippines. [http://paradisephilippines.continentalgirl.com/places/taal-volcano-the-worlds-largest-island-within-a-lake-on-an-island-within-a-lake-on-an-island] to visit for the more adventurous and curious.