The volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, which has been going on for 17 days, has so far destroyed 726 buildings, of which 605 are homes; 58, buildings for agricultural use; 30, for industrial use; 18, for leisure and hospitality; 7, for public use, and 8, for other uses, according to Cadastre data recorded until this Monday afternoon.
This was reported at a press conference by the technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, who explained that these figures differ, by around 400 constructions, from those recorded by the Copernicus satellite, "since it detects any point that may be a building, which leads to errors because in the end they may be a pergola, a precarious chicken coop, an abandoned haystack, among other constructions."
Specifically, Miguel Ángel Morcuende reported that the latest data provided by Copernicus "speak of 1,154 constructions affected by the eruption, of which 1,046 would have been destroyed by the lava and 108 would be damaged or at risk of collapse." He also indicated that "a total of 209 people remain housed in the Hotel Princess de Fuencaliente, which is two more than yesterday."
Regarding the number of people who are currently working to deal with the volcanic emergency, including personnel from the Advanced Command Post, the security operations group, the intervention operations group, and the logistics group, "it amounts to 553 personnel."
On the other hand, the technical director of Pevolca has detailed that the area devastated by the volcano has already risen to 420.12 hectares, about 6.74 ha more than yesterday, and the perimeter of the affected area, although inside there may be areas that are not devastated, is 36.24 km." According to Morcuende, this indicates that the lava flows "are running where they were previously and have not split." Therefore, the maximum width of the lava flow remains at 1,250 meters from yesterday.
Substantial improvement in air quality
Miguel Ángel Morcuende also detailed that "the air quality is good and the decrease in the concentration of the different parameters measured by scientists compared to the last two days is even greater." Particles smaller than 10 microns, which are responsible for respiratory problems, "have also decreased significantly."
This situation, according to Morcuende, "is a consequence of the change in atmospheric weather," which means that the entry of the trade winds and the rise in height of the thermal inversion layer make the environment more unstable and release many gases. However, he advanced that this will change in the coming days, as the inversion layer "will be lower again and there will be a slight atmospheric deterioration."
The technical director of Pevolca explained that the seismic swarm is very focused in the vicinity of where it was in the first days, September 11 and 12, although a little more inclined towards the southeast, which makes it "more felt in municipalities such as Fuencaliente and Villa de Mazo." The depth of most of the earthquakes is located between 10-15 km, which indicates deep or medium-deep seismicity. In this regard, he wanted to send a message of tranquility to the population, since the parameters indicate that the appearance of any emitting center in these municipalities is "practically nil."
Earthquakes continue to be recorded at depths greater than 20 kilometers with an increase in the value of their magnitudes. In the last 24 hours "dozens of earthquakes have been located, the largest of magnitude 3.9, felt with an intensity IV." The increase in earthquakes and their magnitude may indicate an increase in the probability of more felt earthquakes occurring, "which could cause small landslides in sloping areas."
