The La Palma volcano has forced this Monday to confine more than 33,000 people due to the "extremely unfavorable" air quality. The emergency situation has lasted until 1:00 p.m. local time. The concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air on the west side of the island led the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) to declare the confinement of the municipalities of Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso and Tazacorte. 40% of the palm tree population resides in these three terms. The authorities also came to force the students to stay in the educational centers of the affected municipalities and to prohibit parents from coming to pick them up until the emergency situation ended.
Scientists had warned throughout this Monday about the "intense degassing process" that the eruptive process is registering.
This behavior, together with the regime of winds coming from the north-northeast, has placed the cloud of gases over this area.
Early this morning, the level of 750 micrograms per cubic meter of sulfur dioxide was exceeded at the El Paso station, as reported by the Government of the Canary Islands.
📢We inform the families that the students are safe and that they should not go to the educational centers to pick them up, since as determined by the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies they should not make trips to new directions #infovolcan
đź“·Freepik pic.twitter. com / tnXq718oLo
- Gobcan Education (@EducacionCan) December 13, 2021
The Pevolca has recommended to the affected residents that they close the doors, windows, blinds and any air intake from outside and, if possible, confine themselves to the innermost rooms of their houses. In addition, they have demanded that these 33,000 residents disconnect the ventilation and heating, as well as any system that requires the entry of air from outside. "For greater security, it is possible to seal, using adhesive tape, the joints of doors and windows", have explained the authorities.
This new confinement has generated an unprecedented image since the eruption began: the Plaza de Tajuya in El Paso, a meeting point for the media, scientists and the curious, has been completely emptied, according to the image published by the volcanologist of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) Rubén López through his Twitter account.
In his tweet, LĂłpez acknowledges that this is a scenario that "he had not seen yet."