SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 23 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The management of Pevolca has lifted the confinement ordered yesterday in the municipality of Tazacorte, which affected some 3,000 people, when verifying that there is no health condition in the area due to the gases emitted in the contact of the lava with the sea, according to has informed the Coordinating Center of Emergencies and Security (Cecoes) 1-1-2.
This decision has been taken at the beginning of the meeting of the Pevolca Technical Committee and implies the completion of the confinement of the nuclei of San Borondón, the town of Tazacorte and the spread of El Cardón to Camino Los Palomares in the north. In any case, the population is recommended to continue using FFP2 masks, as in the municipalities of Santa Cruz de La Palma, Breña Baja and Breña Alta.
Likewise, the Maritime Captaincy has also lifted the prohibition to operate in the Tazacorte dock and today the classroom activity has continued in the affected municipalities, except in Tazacorte, due to the confinement to which it was subjected in a manner preventive yesterday.
On the other hand, as of Thursday the entry of a frontal structure and later an Atlantic trough is expected to produce precipitations that may be of a strong nature, leaving up to 60 liters per square meter in 12 hours, mainly in the eastern area of the island, a situation that will revert as of Saturday. The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has already activated the yellow warning (risk) based on this forecast.
In addition, it is expected that the ash cloud and sulfur dioxide (S02) will continue to be disposed towards the E-NE from the eruptive focus, probably assuming an unfavorable scenario for aeronautical operations, mainly for La Palma Airport, if the effusive activity of the volcano continues in a similar way.
Regarding the evolution of the runoffs, the Pevolca technical director, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, reported that most of the energy continues to ride through the pouring zone number 7 until it reaches the new lava delta. This has brought the affected area to 1,073 hectares, almost 13 more than yesterday.
The southernmost lava delta reaches 43.46 hectares, 0.5 more than the previous data, which reflects that there is still lava feeding, although very small, in the southern part of the emergency. In addition, the maximum width between castings has increased to 3,300 meters.
The affected crop area is estimated at 326.6 hectares, 12.53 more, of which 198.26 are banana trees, 59.93 are vineyards and almost 26 are avocado trees.
Regarding the number of shelters, there are 505 people in hotel centers, two more than yesterday. Of the total, 433 are staying at the Fuencaliente hotel and 72 in Los Llanos de Aridane. In addition, there are 43 dependent people cared for in insular health centers.
DECREASE IN INTERMEDIATE SEISMICITY.
In relation to seismic activity, there is a decrease in seismicity at intermediate depth, located in the same areas, and the level of seismicity has increased at depths greater than 20 km. The maximum magnitude reached in the last 24 hours was a 4.8 mbLg event recorded at 01:03 am at a depth of 39 km and felt with intensity IV. The tremor remains at a low level, as in previous days.
The general stability of the deformations continues, especially in the vertical component, and since the beginning of November only a notable decrease in regional deflation has been observed.
The SO2 emission associated with the volcanic plume yesterday continued to be high but relatively lower than the previous days, registering a range of values between 4,500 and 6,000 tons per day. On the other hand, the analysis of satellite images continues to reflect a downward trend since last September 23. In the case of the diffuse emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with the Cumbre Vieja building, it continues to register values above the background level and yesterday they reflected a range of values between 2,500 and 2,900 tons per day.
Air quality due to SO2 remained good or reasonably good yesterday in all seasons. The values worsened in the early hours of the night at the Los Llanos station, exceeding the alert threshold at 10:00 p.m. and reaching extremely unfavorable levels that later fell to recover the low values. Today there is a slight increase in the values in the El Paso, Tazacorte and Los Llanos stations, reaching regular and reasonably good values, and in the rest of the stations the values remain good.
Regarding PM10 particles, yesterday the levels improved from unfavorable to reasonably good and fair at the stations in the east of the island and remained good at the Los Llanos station. During this morning, a slight increase in concentrations is being observed in La Grama and Los Llanos, but they still remain at regular and reasonably good levels, respectively. In the rest of the stations the levels are reasonably good.
