The La Palma volcano “has less and less energy”

The sulfur dioxide emission (SO2), associated with the volcanic plume of the La Palma volcano eruption has suffered a marked decline, Therefore, the general downward trend is recovered, which was broken two weeks ago when it increased, as indicated at the press conference this Sunday by the technical director of the Volcanic Emergency Plan of the Canary Islands (Pevolca), Miguel Ángel Morcuende. For her part, María José Blanco, director in the Canary Islands of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and scientific advisor to Pevolca, confirmed that a downward trend is observed in terms of SO2 emissions, of seismicity at intermediate depth, amplitude of the tremor and deformation, which would indicate that “the volcanic system has less and less energy”, although these values ​​that are still very high but lower than other days, have to be maintained over time and go down much more so that we can say that we are facing really low levels, he explained.

The streams that are feeding the lava delta of the coast are still three, (1, 2 and 9), being lavage 9 the one that is receiving the greatest contribution of lava from the cone, while the other two casts, although they receive contributions, are more stable.

The land area affected by the lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano now exceeds 1,019.79 hectares while the maximum width of the castings is still 3,100 meters.

The destroyed buildingsAccording to the Cadastre, they amount to 1,460, of which 1,181 (+2) are for residential use, 150 (+1) for residential use, 67 for industrial use, 34 (+1) for leisure and hospitality use, 13 for use public and 15 other uses. For its part, according to the latest data from the Copernicus satellite system, there would be 2,731 buildings damaged by lava, of which 2,616 would be completely destroyed.

The number of people housed has increased by 5 more than on Saturday, with 481 people, of which 414 are in the Princess hotel in Fuencaliente, and 67 in the Llanos de Aridane. In addition, 43 dependents are housed in different social health resources on the island of La Palma.

Eruptive process

The fissure eruption continues to show a strombolian mechanism, that is, a mechanism of a mixed nature, with explosive phases that produce pyroclastic deposits and effusive phases that simultaneously produce lava flows. The eruptive process shows episodes of increased and decreased strombolian activity, as well as pulses with phreatomagmatic activity.

The contribution of lava continues in the area of ​​the lava deltas causing their growth, although at a slower speed, mainly in the southern part of the second delta.

Currently several broadcast centers are still active with variable activity (both pyroclasts and gases, as well as lava) as the configuration of the eruptive zone changes. The appearance of new emission centers around the main cone, within the exclusion zone, is not ruled out.

The height of the eruptive column measured today at 08:45 is 3,100 meters, with dispersion in a southwesterly direction.

Weather forecast

East component wind predominance from surface up to 5,000 meters. The predicted wind configuration will dispose the ash cloud and SO2 towards the OSO of the focus. During the next 36-48 hours, the favorable scenario for aeronautical operations will continue. The low pressure system that is forming in the subtropical Atlantic, near the Azores, is expected to be located in the south of the Azores and west of the Canary Islands as of Tuesday. As of today, the low pressure system is not expected to directly affect the Canary Islands.

Seismicity

The level of seismicity continues to be maintained at depths greater than 20 kilometers. Seismicity at intermediate depths remains low compared to previous weeks and continues to be located in the same areas. The maximum magnitude was 4.7 mbLg of an event today at 05:24 at a depth of 37 kilometers, felt with maximum intensity IV (on the EMS intensity scale).

The tremor in the last 24 hours remains at low levels. The current level of seismicity continues to indicate that it is possible that more felt earthquakes may occur, being able to reach intensities V-VI (on the EMS intensity scale) and causing small landslides in sloping areas.

Regarding deformation, the station closest to the center continues to show deformations that reflect the dynamics of the eruptive process. The rest of the stations show a trend towards regional deflation.

Emission of gases

The SO2 emission, associated with the volcanic plume of the current eruptive process underway (visible emanations of volcanic gases), registered yesterday (10/13) was lower than in previous days although it continues to be high, registering a range of values between 2,000 and 4,000 tons per day through the use of remote optical sensors type miniDOAS in maritime mobile position. On the other hand, the analysis of satellite images reflects a downward trend since last September 23, when maximum levels of SO2 emissions were registered above 50,000 tons per day.

In the case of the diffuse emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), associated with the 220 square kilometers of the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge (non-visible emissions of volcanic gases), it continues to register values ​​above the background levels (between 200 and 1300 tons per day) and during yesterday (10/13) they reflected a range of values ​​between 1,800 and 2,000 tons per day.

These diffuse fumes do not represent a danger to people, unless accumulations of CO2 form in poorly ventilated depressions, displacing oxygen from the air and generating anoxic environments. At the Los Llanos de Aridane station (LP10) a slight magmatic-hydrothermal fraction continues to be recorded in the carbon dioxide (CO2) of the soil atmosphere, while this is practically nil at the Fuencaliente station (LP08). All these geochemical observations are consistent with the current eruptive process.

Air quality

Yesterday, the air quality due to sulfur dioxide (SO2) was at good or reasonably good levels in all the stations, with no 3 exceeding the hourly or daily limits. During the early hours of yesterday and the morning of today there has been a slight increase in values ​​in Puntagorda and Los Llanos de Aridane, going from good to reasonably good levels and reaching regular levels at certain times. In the rest of the stations, the values ​​are kept at a good air quality level.

Related news

Regarding particles smaller than 10 microns (PM10), yesterday we continued registering low values ​​in all the stations on the island, with good and reasonably good levels, except for a high intensity episode in Los Llanos de Aridane between 12:00 and 14:00 hours, related to cleaning activities that caused the resuspension of ashes, resulting in an exceedance of the daily limit value (established at 50 μg / m³). This event raised the 24-hour moving average in this station to the very unfavorable level, which has remained until today. At the moment the values ​​recorded in Los Llanos de Aridane are low, so air quality levels should improve during the morning if there are no significant changes in conditions. In the rest of the stations the levels remain between good and reasonably good.