Emergency Services Conduct Volcanic Risk Drill in Garachico
Residents of Garachico received alerts on their mobile phones shortly after nine o’clock this morning, notifying them that the General Directorate of Emergencies is “conducting a volcanic risk exercise affecting the municipality of Garachico due to lava flows.”
Key Participants in the Simulation
During the subsequent press conference, the President of the Tenerife Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, simulated a real threat: “We are experiencing an increasing activity sequence that, according to information from the simulated scientific committee, will lead to a volcanic eruption in the very near future.” This alert was received by individuals in and around Garachico and El Tanque.
The simulated press conference also featured appearances from the Government Delegate in the Canary Islands, Javier Plata; the seismologist from the National Geographic Institute, Itahiza Domínguez; and Civil Protection officials, including Montserrat Román. Marcos Lorenzo Martín, the Deputy Minister of Security and former Mayor of Tijarafe, participated as the institutional spokesperson.
Scenario of the Exercise
The text of the alert, sent out minutes later to other parts of the island, noted that “this message would be received in case self-protection measures such as evacuation or confinement had to be implemented due to volcanic hazards (ash, gases, volcanic material projection, landslides, or earthquakes).”
Upcoming Simulated Press Conference
In her remarks, Dávila announced that “we will hold another simulated press conference at midday, where the five scenarios described for Garachico will have already unfolded. Several emergency actions, such as an evacuation or the arrival of lava at the sea, will test the response capacity of the teams so that they can be evaluated.”
Additionally, she explained that at 12:00 hours, a new alert message would be issued, this time specifically for the residents of El Tanque, who would remain confined due to the risk of gases. The exercise is set to conclude that same day at 1:00 PM with an evacuation phase, accompanied by another informative appearance.
In this fictional scenario, Tenerife would be under a maximum alert level, classified as orange, until 10:00 hours—when the simulation of the eruption would begin—prompting a shift to level red as per the volcanic alert system established by the Canary Islands Government.
Subsequently, during the actual press conference regarding the simulation, officials emphasised the importance of public preparedness for natural emergencies.
