The airport is operational again, but six inter-island flights have been canceled
The persistent rainfall forecast for today and tomorrow on La Palma is of great concern to those responsible for the management of the volcanic emergency who have asked the population to avoid circulating through troughs or below unstable slopes, especially tomorrow. runoff and landslides caused by the rains.
“It is recommended not to travel through the riverbed areas or to be at the foot of steep slopes,” said Carmen López, spokeswoman for the scientific committee of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca).
For his part, the technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, asked the population not to be exposed to troughs where life-threatening episodes can occur and recalled the flood that occurred in 1957 in the Amargavinos ravine, in Las Breñas , where 26 people died in the greatest tragedy that occurred on La Palma in the 20th century.
“Since the first days of the eruption, the possibility of having intense rainfall has been one of the concerns of the steering committee and the scientific committee due to traffic problems and the risk it may pose to people’s lives,” Morcuende stressed. . However, the emergency manager stressed that the rain will be dangerous as the population is exposed. “The problem is to be in the middle of a river when 15 liters per square meter falls in an hour,” he said.
This Wednesday, for the fifth day in a row, flights to La Palma were suspended and the airport is expected to remain inoperative today because the wind will continue to move the ash cloud to the east of the island. This circumstance will worsen the air quality in the municipalities of Santa Cruz de La Palma, Breña Alta and Breña Baja due to the high concentration of suspended particles smaller than ten microns.
Regarding the presence of sulfur dioxide in the air, the levels yesterday were good or reasonably good in all the stations except in El Paso and Los Llanos, where they were regular.
Regarding the advance of the flows, López reported that the active channels have increased, although the lava is not occupying new territories. The main lava flow circulates through stream 7, which flows south of the La Laguna mountain, and over stream 4, a little further south. Both flows connect before reaching the coast to feed the new fajana that began to form on Monday. This new low island has already gained 5 hectares to the sea, entering it at a maximum distance of 350 meters from the cliff, said López.
The area covered by lava now amounts to 1,088 hectares and the first lava delta, formed on Los Guirres beach, occupies 43.46 hectares.
In relation to the parameters that measure eruptive activity, yesterday the number of earthquakes registered at medium depths – over 12 kilometers – was reduced, while seismicity at great depth, at more than 20 kilometers, remains at an intense level, although it has experienced a slight decrease compared to Monday. The tremor – the vibrations caused by the eruptive activity – continues at low levels and the deformation of the ground does not show changes.
The eruptive column reached a height of 4,300 meters yesterday and on Tuesday emitted between 1,300 and 18,000 tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.
.