El Paso: La Palma volcano eruption | Science

New La Palma volcano erupted Sunday at 3:12 p.m. in Montana Ragada, in the municipality of El Paso. A small earthquake occurred in the Las Manchas district of the municipality of Palma a step, A huge explosion was followed by a huge billow of smoke and the expulsion of the mounds of insects. The lava has caused two fissures, two different eruptive mouths in the mountain through which the lava flows.

The seismic swarm of Cumbre Vieja that began last Saturday, September 11, in a swift and energetic process, led to a next episode occurring half a century after Teneguía, by far the smallest surface volcano in Spain. The volcano appeared in an uninhabited mountainous area while residents with limited mobility were being evacuated in nearby towns, causing small wildfires.

After two days of calm on the Canary island of La Palma, seismic activity was reactivated with several earthquakes felt by residents on Sunday morning (the largest being 3.8), clearly indicating that the volcanic crisis has precipitated. Movements were felt in six locations. In addition, many earthquakes greater than 2 magnitudes are frequent at increasingly shallow depths near the small town of El Paso, and palm trees have felt three of them as well, according to data from the National Geographic Institute (IGN). Since this phenomenon began, IGN has recorded more than 6,600 small earthquakes in the Cumbre Vieja region, south of La Palma. In the current situation before the eruption of the volcano, the authorities decided to proceed with the “preventive evacuation” of fifty dependents living in the worst affected neighborhoods.

On Monday the 13th, the authorities decided to raise the alert for volcanoes to a yellow traffic light. This level of alert is the second of four, and it only means the preparation and information phase for the population, which has been done in recent days. Several media meetings were held for residents and Evacuation plans have already been made If the alarm is raised to an orange or red traffic light, with football fields in the area as a meeting point. This alert affects the municipalities of Fuencaliente, Los Llanos de Aridan, El Paso and Villa de Mazo, with a total of 35,000 people affected. For the time being, today, Sunday, experts decided to keep the traffic light at a yellow level. The process “can have a rapid development in the short term” and increase “the probability that it will culminate in an outbreak, without being able to establish a time window.”

This seismic swarm, as this temporary focus at the site of many small earthquakes is called, alerted scientists to the possibility of a superficial volcanic eruption. Volcanic activity on La Palma has ceased since the eruption of the Tinegia volcano in 1971, at the southern tip of the island. But in 2017, seismic activity reactivated and in these years there were many swarms until the last and most intense, which began on September 11.

The warning affects four municipalities with around 35,000 people affected in total

On Thursday, scientists recorded a 10-centimeter island deformation in the Cumbre Vieja region where earthquakes occur, indicating the presence of magma in the Earth’s interior that is exerting pressure toward the surface. Since then, this distortion has slowed, but today IGN reports that the island is already swollen. up to 15 cm. In addition, earthquakes increasingly occur at shallow depths. This crisis began with earthquakes more than 20 kilometers deep, and those in recent days were about 5 kilometers away, some of the most intense, just a few hundred meters from the surface.

And the scientists warned that it is possible that “more intense earthquakes will occur, which can damage buildings.”

Crisis Committee (Pevolka) Already announced on Friday It is possible “the occurrence of earthquakes of greater intensity that can damage buildings.” They also warned of the possibility of falling rocks (Puerto Naos). For this reason, today it was decided to close the forest paths and paths in that area of ​​the island. In addition, experts did not exclude the appearance of other phenomena that can be observed on the surface, such as changes in temperature, smell and color of water or abnormal behavior of animals.

The President of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, held talks with the head of government, Pedro Sanchez, and other members of his executive branch to prepare the response to this possible explosion. The Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morante, who was traveling to La Palma today to inquire about the situation, decided not to go “in light of recent events” and instead, the Director-General of Civil Protection of the Ministry of the Interior, Leopoldo Marcos, will travel. In addition, various teams have been mobilized, including an aircraft requested by the Government of the Canary Islands from the Ministry of Environmental Transition to monitor and follow up on volcanic activity.

[Esta noticia puede actualizarse con novedades sobre la situación sísmica]

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