SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The streams that are located south of the La Laguna mountain continue to evolve towards the west of the island of La Palma with an “enormous contribution of energy” and at the moment they are located at a distance of just a few hundred meters from the sea . Likewise, the broadcast center that was reactivated a couple of days ago continues with intermittent but much less activity.
The technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, has indicated that the original laundry continues to be fed “very weakly”; However, the stream that is closest to the La Laguna mountain has a “huge contribution of energy”, as does the stream located further north and from which a “very thin” appendix emerged, barely 5 meters long. Wide.
This wash, as explained by Miguel Ángel Morcuende, is advancing towards the south and the forecast is that it will rejoin the one that is closest to the La Laguna mountain, which has continued to evolve towards the west and is currently located at a distance of about 200 meters from the sea.
As happened with the original laundry, when the lava comes into contact with sea water, small explosions and hydrochloric acid detachments will occur, for which Morcuende has warned that civil protection measures will be applied before this happens, such as the confinement of the residents of the area.
The affected area remains at 724.95 hectares, as there are no updated data, and the maximum width between the flows is approximately 2,350 meters.
The technical director of Pevolca has also pointed out that seismicity continues to be maintained in the same area as in previous days and at intermediate and deep depths, so “there is no excessive concern” in this regard. Something similar happens with the deformation, which has remained stable and has even decreased compared to previous days.
REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE.
From the report of the Scientific Committee of Pevolca it is clear that the fissure eruption continues to show strombolian mechanism and the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), in the case of this eruption it remains at 2 so far.
The streams with the greatest activity are those that have crossed the football field and the one that crossed the La Laguna mountain to the southwest, which is located about 250 meters from the coastline. Likewise, the crater emission centers are still active and the center that was reactivated two days ago continues with intermittent but much less activity.
Yesterday there were several observable events of remobilization of specific ash in the Tamanca ravine, in the Llano de las Moscas and in the Martín volcano. The spokesperson for the Scientific Committee, María José Blanco, pointed out that these events do not indicate the opening of new emission centers, although it is not ruled out that some emission centers continue to appear in the surroundings of the current eruptive center and within the exclusion zone.
The height of the column of ash and gases measured today is 4,200 meters, as well as its dispersion, and in terms of meteorological conditions, a marked thermal inversion continues with a very low base, at about 300 meters, and with weak winds with a predominance of the breeze regime. In addition, the entry of Saharan dust is causing an increase in PM10 particles, which will be remitting as of the 19th. María José Blanco specified that unfavorable meteorological conditions from the air quality point of view will continue and it is expected that the investment go up in height and recover values of this time of year around October 21 and 22.
Currently the south and west component winds are disposing the ash cloud and sulfur dioxide (SO2) towards the north and northeast from the eruptive focus. This position is affecting the operation of the La Palma Airport and a stratum of the airspace between La Palma, the north of La Gomera and the northwest of Tenerife. It is expected that the wind will turn to the east component during the next morning and this would suppose a better scenario for the operation of the Mazo Airport.
Seismicity continues to be located in the same environment, with intermediate depths, between 10 and 15 km, and greater than 30 km. The high values of the amplitude of the seismic tremor signal are maintained, with intensification pulses. The maximum magnitude observed yesterday was 4.3 mbLg of an event 35 km deep and that was felt with an intensity of IV. Given the levels of seismicity, it is still probable that more earthquakes felt by the population and that in areas of steep slopes they could produce small landslides.
STABILITY PATTERN.
The deformation shows a pattern of stability around the eruptive center. Regarding the measurements of sulfur dioxide in yesterday’s plume, they are 8,278 tons per day, which is an underestimated value, and as for the diffuse emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) by the trip summit building is it has estimated at 992 tons per day.
The combination of measurements carried out on the 14th with optical sensors allows us to know the emission of other volatiles into the atmosphere by this eruptive process, reaching 43,000 tons of CO2 per day, 2,360 for hydrochloric acid and 490 for carbon monoxide.
Regarding air quality, during the early morning and early hours of yesterday high SO2 values were measured in Puntagorda and Fuencaliente, but they did not exceed the hourly thresholds, and from that moment on it was reduced to low values during the rest of the year. day and morning today. In the rest of the stations, low values were registered throughout the whole day yesterday.
With regard to PM10 particles, the values measured at all the stations increased throughout yesterday, coinciding with the entry of a Saharan air mass, which has led to the daily threshold being exceeded at the stations. from Los Llanos, El Pilar and La Grama. But also yesterday the daily PM10 threshold was exceeded in other stations of the air quality measurement network on other islands, with similar values, so the exceedances that occurred on La Palma are related to the air intake Saharan.
