SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Pevolca Scientific Committee has proposed in its last meeting held on Tuesday to change the traffic light for volcanic risk, which is currently red, to yellow. This color maintains information for the population and surveillance and monitoring measures for volcanic and seismic activity.
For this reason, this Wednesday the Pevolca Steering Committee agreed to set up a mixed commission to work on the transfer of the management of the emergency management from the Autonomous Executive to the Cabildo de La Palma as of Monday, making it coincide with the change of color of the volcanic risk traffic light from red to yellow.
Although the management passes to the Cabildo, the emergency will continue to be active, so the limitations will remain in force and will subsist until it is terminated.
According to the latest opinion of the Scientific Committee, the volcanic activity in the Cumbre Vieja area has been in a post-eruptive phase since last December 13, and it considers that the risks that persist are limited and controlled with a ban on access by the population .
However, the opinion emphasizes that in this post-eruptive phase some volcanic hazards persist and that anomalous seismic and geochemical activity continues to be recorded, without having reached background levels in observables.
In this sense, high gas emissions (mainly CO2) continue to be registered, both in Puerto Naos and in La Bombilla, which is why these two neighborhood centers continue to be closed. As for the town of El Remo, access is allowed for people using a QR code but without overnight stays.
Meanwhile, in the area of the volcanic building, high temperatures and ground instabilities have been observed. In addition, in the lava flows that are being worked on, temperatures have been certified that exceed 300 degrees centigrade at the edges of the flows and up to 500 degrees centigrade in the lava fragments that have been extracted, so these actions require previous studies that guarantee the safety in its execution.
On the other hand, scientists recommend a safety distance in navigation around lava deltas, since there are changes in depth that have not yet been mapped, which should be at least 250 meters from the lava delta fronts. and 500 meters from the coastline between the lava deltas 4 and the south of the lava delta 1-2.
Regarding the people housed in hotels, at the moment the figure is reduced by six people compared to the last figure, standing at 506. Of these, 315 are in Fuencaliente, 124 in Breña Baja and 67 in Los Llanos de Aridane. The Red Cross, the organization in charge of the management, indicates that these people are returning to their homes as they adapt the habitability of their homes.
