SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The forecast that the wash that surrounds the mountain of La Laguna to the southwest could reach the municipality of Tazacorte has forced the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands to suspend, as of tomorrow, the face-to-face activity at CEO Juan XXIII y at CEIP El Puerto, that classes will continue online.
This was announced by the technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, who stressed that school activity, which has been resumed today in the municipalities affected by the eruption, has developed “with absolute normality” but, in Anticipation that the laundry could arrive, this decision has been made in the centers of Tazacorte.
Miguel Ángel Morcuende has indicated that the situation of the two flows that are in the vicinity of La Laguna is “stable and slow”, so there have been no new spills. The stream that surrounds the Montaña de La Laguna to the southwest is about 160 meters from the coast but advances very slowly, just 2 meters per hour, so it is not expected to reach the sea today.
The technical director of Pevolca explained that this lava flow is suffering a “clear loss of lava” that causes an increase in its thickness, but its progress is still being monitored to take, if necessary, preventive measures for the population of the municipality of Tazacorte in the event that it reaches the sea.
In this sense, he stated that, as is known, the contact of lava with the sea can cause explosions and the emanation of harmful gases for the nearby population, which is why, in this case, the confinement of some coastal nuclei of Tazacorte would be decreed, as was done with the previous wash that reached the sea.
Regarding the other wash that goes down the La Laguna soccer field, Miguel Ángel Morcuende specified that it is “practically stopped” and has almost “no contribution”, so that right now the conditions are of “unemployment” or of a “very small” movement. The technical director pointed out that, in the case of moving, it will take a southwesterly direction and try to join the other stream that runs towards the sea. In any case, it continues to be monitored.
Regarding seismicity, Morcuende reiterated that it continues to be in the same area of the swarm that gave rise to the eruption, but slightly to the south and east of the eruption area, and the appearance of new emitting centers is not ruled out, but within this zone. In any case, Morcuende stressed that the earthquakes that are being registered are of medium depth, between 10 and 15 kilometers, and high, above 20 kilometers.
The technical director pointed out that the meteorological conditions continue to be unfavorable from the point of view of air quality as a consequence of the sum of the Saharan dust in suspension. Additionally, sea breezes are pushing gases higher, so self-confinement is recommended for the next two days in El Paso.
MORE THAN 340 PEOPLE HOSTED.
With regard to people housed in hotels, there are currently 344 lodged, of which 327 are in the Princess Hotel in Fuencaliente and 17 in the Los Llanos hotel. Likewise, the area affected by lava is 763.32 hectares, 20.37 more than yesterday, and the width between flows reaches 2.9 km.
Likewise, there is a total of 228.9 hectares of affected crops, 25.5 more than three days ago. Of these, 128.07 are banana crops, 52.02 are vineyards, 16.9 are avocados and the rest are other crops.
In relation to the buildings destroyed or damaged by the volcanic eruption, the data extracted from the Copernicus satellite, which only analyzes buildings without specifying the type it is, places the destroyed buildings and 61 partially damaged or in danger at 1,956, which makes a total of 2,017 buildings affected.
With regard to the operation of the La Palma Airport, thanks to the turn of the wind to the east component during the past morning, a more favorable scenario has been reached and right now it would be fully operational. On the other hand, the lava has destroyed the medium voltage line in La Condesa and energy is being supplied with generators.
Asked about the quality of the water in the area near the lava delta, Miguel Ángel Morcuende stressed that “there is no problem.” In fact, he highlighted that around the fajana there are species such as the old one, a fish “absolutely scary and that, however, right now it is next to the fajana living peacefully”, which shows that “there is no affection to life Marine”. What’s more, he indicated that when the lava first came into contact with the sea, there were very few dead fish.
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 crater emission centers are still active and the center that was reactivated on the 16th continues its activity with intermittent ash emission, and the appearance of new centers within the exclusion zone and in the vicinity of the main center is not ruled out. The morphology of the cone continues with its configuration and reconfiguration process.
The height of the column of ash and gases measured today is 4,000 meters, as well as its dispersion, and in terms of meteorological conditions, it is expected that tomorrow the haze and thermal inversion will subside, which is at a low altitude, will continue to remain so until the next day 22, which will recover typical values of this time of year. Both the haze and the low investment are unfavorable conditions from the point of view of air quality.
The arrangement of the ash cloud and sulfur dioxide (SO2) is currently to the north and west-southwest from the eruptive focus. This position is favorable for the operation of the La Palma Airport, but due to wind fluctuations, it is not ruled out that the operation could be affected in the central hours of tomorrow. The areas most affected by the ash would be the western half of La Palma, mainly to the north, and southwest of the eruptive focus.
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 4.6 mbLg of an event at a depth of 36 km 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.
The deformation shows a pattern of stability around the eruptive center. Regarding the sulfur dioxide measurements in yesterday’s plume, they are 3,329 tons per day, which is an underestimated value, and as for the diffuse emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) by the Cumbre Viaje building It has been estimated at 842 tons per day.
