“With the data obtained so far, there is nothing that indicates a possible reactivation,” he says.
Itahiza Domínguez Sardinia has spent a year scrutinizing the entrails of The Palm and it has become a benchmark as a result of the volcanological episodes of Cumbre Vieja. He says that the island, as is the case with Lanzarote, Tenerife and El Hierro, will have to always watch her. And about the eruption, which will be one year old tomorrow, he confesses that the biggest difference with other volcanic crises in the Canary Islands is that it has swept away so many homes.
What is the current situation of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, one year after its eruption on the island of La Palma?Right now we meet three phenomena mainly. The first is the seismicity that continues to occur with earthquakes at a depth of about 10 kilometers and some others also at surface level. Then we have another phenomenon which is that of degassing that occurs in the cone, with a significant emission of sulfur dioxide, which is why some areas of the crater continue to be seen with a yellow tone; there are still areas in the volcanic cone where very high temperatures are recorded. Even on the surface, viewed with a thermal camera, temperatures of about 400° are recorded. That is due to those gases and fumaroles. The third, which is perhaps the most worrying, is that of CO2 degassing that is taking place in the area of La Bombilla and Puerto Naos and because of them there are evictions. We do know that the origin of all these phenomena has to do with the cooling of the magma because the hot material that was under the volcanic cone is still at very high temperatures, and we must not forget that even 10 kilometers from the surface there is still magma.
“The accumulation of gases in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla is due to old flows”
Does it pose a danger?It does not mean that it will come out, because sometimes not all the magma that is produced comes out, but that part that remains under there is still molten and is cooling, which generates two phenomena. We believe that the CO2 that we are seeing in La Bombilla and Puerto Naos comes from there and it seems that it accumulates in these two places because in that area there are old lava flows that act as waterproofing and do not allow gas to come to the surface. The normal thing would be that in volcanic buildings gas would remain coming out for a while but in that area and for these reasons degassing is taking place in coastal areas where there are inhabited places. This magma, moreover, is cooling down and, as happens with all materials except water, it shrinks; seismic movements can also come from there.
Is there a possibility of an imminent reactivation?This information that is circulating is due to some social networks, some journalists and some newspapers that have misinterpreted the information that was provided in the last report where we talked about some volcanic hazards remain, without being possible to rule out future reactivations. But we were talking about a possibility that could happen in the future or not, and less imminently. I also think it is important to remember what a volcanic reactivation is, so that the difference is understood. A reactivation would suppose a new movement of magma with a high number of earthquakes and deformations in the terrain, and for now we are not seeing that in La Palma. No one knows what may happen in the future and the more time passes, the less likely it will happen. In the eruption of El Hierro, which ended in February 2012, we had reactivations the following two years; six in all. That was actually what we wanted to convey.
“We have seen that it is false that the eruptions are ‘friendly’ in the Canary Islands”
But there has been an increase in seismicity in recent weeks.It’s true. In the last month there has been an increase compared to the previous two or three months, but if you compare that seismicity with that recorded five or six months ago, when the eruption had stopped, it is similar. We are talking about five or ten earthquakes a day, which is a very small activity compared to the hundred or so that we registered daily before and during the eruption. With the data obtained so far, there is no nothing that indicates a possible reactivation. What morning suddenly occurs? Well, we don’t know. But today, no.
What have we learned from these eruptions?Among other things, that the idea that the eruptions were friendly in the Canary Islands is false. In La Palma there has been a lot of destruction. Perhaps there are more affected because now the islands are much more inhabited than when they were produced, for example, those of Timanfaya, which lasted six years.
“Until now there is nothing that indicates a possible reactivation in Cumbre Vieja”
Will it be necessary to continue monitoring La Palma much longer?We will have to continue to monitor it always, like Iron, Lanzarote and Tenerife.