Activity from the summit of the central cone has been minimal today, contrasting with previous days where weak strombolian and phreatomagmatic activity was observed. The lower Hawaiian vents at the base of the northeastern flank that opened in the early hours of the 28^th November continue to produce a large but decreased quantity of lava relative to yesterday. These feed a new lava flow covering new land near the northern margin of the current lava field, in the direction of La Laguna. However, the flow is slower and more viscous today, and it is expected to join flow number 8 (the flow nearest the centre of La Laguna) or stop, depending on the evolution of the activity from the feeding vents.

Seismicity was elevated for the second day in a row today relative to last week, with about 90% of the earthquakes again being concentrated at 10-15 km depth. The largest earthquake however was a M5.0 at 35 km depth at 08:35 this morning. Concerning air quality, which reached ‘very unfavourable’ levels yesterday in Los Llanos De Aridane, Tazacorte and El Paso, the SO2 and PM10 levels were better today. SO2 was ‘regular’ in Los Llanos De Aridane and Puntagorda, but was ‘good’ or ‘reasonably good’ in all other areas, and PM10 levels were at least ‘reasonably good’ at all stations. Deformation is stable and shows no significant changes, as are CO2 emissions, and the column height was relatively low at 1400 m, dispersing to the S-SW.

A team of volcanologists observe the new lava flow to the north of the current lava flow field, originating from the new vents on the NE flanks of the main cone. Image credit: IGN

Sources: Government of the Canary Islands, PEVOLCA, Involcan, IGN, DSN, Cabildo La Palma, 112 Canarias, Tolouse VAAC, Copernicus EMS