The Minister of Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, head of the operation and director of PEVOLCA, Julio Pérez, announced this Saturday the end of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma, after 85 days, although not the end of the emergency.
Pérez appeared after the daily meeting of Pevolca and was accompanied by the spokesman for the Steering Committee of the Special Civil Protection and Emergency Attention Plan for Volcanic Risk (PEVOLCA), Miguel Ángel Morcuende, as well as a spokesman for the Scientific Committee, María José Blanco, among others.
In his appearance he admitted that after this "volcanic autumn" that began on September 19 and has remained until December 13, 85 days, in which this situation has been a "priority" of the Canary Government and has stated that after concluding this eruption it can be said that they feel "relief" because now they can dedicate themselves "fully" to the rehabilitation of the destroyed areas.
The counselor has indicated that the Pevolca plan will continue "the same, in red traffic light, the emergency at the same level", clarifying that he "does not" believe that the emergency will cease to be declared throughout the month of January, since as long as danger persists, it must remain activated.
In this sense, he indicated that "the gases, the ashes and the heat" are still there, therefore those are the risks that remain, although he pointed out that unlike the eruption, which was unknown when it could conclude, those risks are known to be concluding.
Now, he said, it is time to rebuild, hence on Monday he pointed out that they will begin to study the relocation plan that "will have to be safe and orderly, gradual", advancing that the forecast is that in the first half of January some relocations can be agreed and try to see how to restore some essential services.
Therefore, Pérez has stressed that they are "not" going to leave La Palma "from one day to the next" because "it is necessary to foresee the de-escalation" although he admits that "the pace will be different and the priorities will be different but the plan will remain active" after what he has described as the "biggest catastrophe in the Canary Islands" and the "longest" eruption in the archipelago.
He also stressed that in this process, in which there has been movement of thousands of people, "there are no direct victims" of the volcano, although there is a case that is under investigation.
More than 1,000 people operating
On the other hand, Pérez has pointed out that some 1,000 people have operated in this emergency, 15 percent of them scientific personnel, so he stressed that decisions have been made based on knowledge.
Here he took the opportunity to recognize the work of the technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, about whom he said that he "did not" hesitate or "very little" to occupy the position, considering that he has been right with his decision because he has understood that he has been "an essential piece" in this emergency, which still remains.
He also thanked the work of the State Security Forces, highlighting the "versatility" of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), and the Cabildo de La Palma, among many others.
Morcuende, for his part, has admitted that "there is still hard work to be done" for a time that will be "long" focused on the rehabilitation of essential services and monitoring gases.
Finally, the spokeswoman for the Scientific Committee María José Blanco has indicated that in the daily report the direct and surveillance observables corroborate the end of the eruptive process on December 13 at 22.21 hours although she has stated that the conclusion of the eruption does not have to imply the end of some dangers associated with the volcanic phenomenon, nor necessarily the end of the magmatic reactivation in Cumbre Vieja.
She added that respect for the land and maritime exclusion zones is still imperative to maintain the physical integrity of people.
The cone of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, she said, is about 200 meters to approximately 1,100 meters with respect to sea level, and in it there are six craters. In this process, 9,090 earthquakes have been recorded, the largest being 5, recorded on November 19, at 01.08 hours, at 33 kilometers deep.
They point out that seismicity is one of the observables that "remain remaining", being observables that "can last months" as happened in Tagoro, in El Hierro, which for two years had seismicity although not periodically.
