Mount Iraya, is a dormant

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

Batan Island Batan Island ( ) is the main island of Batanes, an archipelagic province in the Philippines. It is the second largest of the Batanes Islands, the northernmost group of islands in the country. Four of the six municipalities of Batanes are loca ...

and the highest point in the province of

Batanes Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Location

Iraya is located on

, one of the

Batanes Islands Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...

, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, in the

Luzon Strait The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean. This body of water is an im ...

, north of the island of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, in the Philippines. It is the northernmost active volcano in the Philippines.

Physical features

Iraya is a heavily forested

, with an elevation of

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

, and a base diameter of . Adjacent volcanic edifice is Mount Matarem.

Volcanic activity

Mount Iraya last erupted in 1454, and the

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS, ; tl, Surian ng Pilipinas sa Bulkanolohiya at Sismolohiya) is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide information on the activities of volcanoes, earthquakes, and ...

(PHIVOLCS) considers it as one of the active volcanoes in the Philippines. In 1998,

volcanologists Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin word ''vulcan''. Vulcan was the anci ...

recorded seismic swarms which led them to form a monitoring network on Batan Island for several months. After the swarms of tremors had diminished, the temporary stations in

Barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

San Joaquin in

Basco, Batanes Basco, officially the Municipality of Basco ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Basco; tl, Bayan ng Basco), is a 5th class municipality and capital of the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 9,517 people. Basco ...

and another near the crater, were pulled out. Seismicity or any activity relating to Iraya is still monitored by the Basco Seismological Station.

Volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

of the Philippines are all part of the

Pacific ring of fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions and ...

Mythology

Mount Iraya is a sacred mountain for the Ivatan people. There are two contrasting tales regarding the mountain, the first tale states that the mountain is a mother overlooking her children (the Ivatans) for their protection, while the second tale states that if a ring of clouds appear on top of the mountain, Iraya is notifying the people for preparation due to an inevitable death of an elder, usually due to natural causes.

References

External links