Day by Day in La Palma

Today, for the first time since the declaration of the end of the eruption, some of the evacuated people will be allowed to return to their homes. The order applies to around 1,000 of those evacuated to areas of Tacande and Tajuya (Rotonda del Sombrero), Las Martelas, La Condesa, Marina Alta, Marina Baja and Las Cabezadas (soccer field and cemetery area) in the north, and El Charco in the southern evacuated zone.

PEVOLCA is investigating the possibility of allowing further returns of evacuated people as soon as next Friday, as it continues to analyse the state of the lava flows The lava flows are mainly being analysed in terms of their temperature, stability and gas emissions, with the adjustment of the exclusion area being possible if results are favourable.

Work has continued on removing lava from the crossing in La Laguna, in the hope that this will enable new relocations of evacuated people this Friday. The re-opening of this crossing will open up access to areas between the villages of La Laguna and Tazacorte which have been cut off by the lava flows on this crossing at one end, and the lava flow which formed the northernmost lava delta at the other end.

After days of tests and preparations, PEVOLCA has announced the size of the exclusion zone will be reduced from 7am local time Friday morning, allowing for the return of more of the evacuated population. All residents on the north side of the lava flow field have been cleared to return, as well as some to the south of the lava flow field. There still exists a larger exclusion zone to the south of the lava flow field, as a result of the greater problems of volcanic gas levels in that part of the flow field.

After the successful return of more evacuees to their homes and reduction in size of the exclusion zone, the focus turns to the restorative work needed to repair damage to basic and essential services. Heavy machinery has been digging on the cooled lava flows surrounding La Laguna mountain, and work on an access road to Puerto Naos has been going well, despite being affected at times by gas levels in the area.

With new returns of evacuated people and a shrinking of the exclusion zone in the last few days, a new normal is emerging in the post-eruptive landscape on the island. However, it is important to remember that in this landscape volcanic dangers persist. PEVOLCA has warned returning residents of approaching the lava flows, even if they appear cooled and stable, as collapses of the lava flows as they cool is possible, as well as the presence of high temperatures and high levels of volcanic gases.

As reconstruction work on the lava flows continues, the reconstruction and recovery efforts to remediate the economic impacts continue. According to Félix Bolaños, the Minister of the Presidency Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory, aid for 79 applicants have been approved by the Government of Spain.

PEVOLCA have announced today that as of 9am on Tuesday the 18th January, the exclusion zone surrounding the volcano and lava flows will be further reduced, allowing around 800 more evacuated people to return to their homes. The newly opened zone comprises much of the area directly to the south of the lava flow field, and includes the settlements of Las Norias, Hoya del Verdugo, Morro de los Judíos, Las Manchas, Cuatro Caminos, San Nicolás and south of camino José Pons la Jurona.

The return of 800 more evacuated people to areas south of the lava flows took place as planned today. In the area Puerto Naos to the south coast of the lava flows, which remains evacuated due to the persistence of gases, new CO2 concentration data published by Involcan highlights this issue. Between the 9th and 17th of January, an optical CO2 sensor was installed in the ground floor of a building in Puerto Naos to measure the accumulation of gases.

In the last week, the island of La Palma has taken further steps towards its recovery from the volcanic eruption. Firstly, on the 19th January, it was announced by the Maritime authorities that the maritime exclusion zones off the western coast of La Palma would be reduced from two nautical miles to half a nautical mile between the towns of La Bombilla and San Borodón.

The recovery of La Palma continues after the downgrade from the red alert level to the yellow level on the 31st January, which switched management of the recovery from the Canary Islands Government to the Island Council of La Palma. Despite the reduction in alert level, evacuees from the La Bombilla and Puerto Naos areas near the coast directly to the south of the lava flows remain unable to return due to very high levels of CO2 still being recorded in the area.

After a couple weeks without forward progress, work on some of the new tracks across the lava flows, especially the one between along the coast La Laguna and Las Norias, could resume in the coming days. Work had stopped due to the need for studies of the safety and stability of the thicker parts of the lava flows where unstable lava tubes may exist: these studies have been undertaken by the Geological and Mining Institute (IGME) and are now being finalised.

After some stagnation due to safety checks, the first road across the lava flow has been opened to local residents. The road, which crosses about 200 m of relatively thin flows to the northwest of Montaña La Laguna, opens access to a small number of houses and large amounts of farmland that were previously isolated.

Reconstruction and recovery continue on La Palma, with some of the latest news being the Island Council of La Palma announcing that €10 million from the donations they have received will be mobilised to families registered in the single registry who have lost their homes to the volcano. The aid will total €10,000 per family and will supplement other aid families may have already received for reconstruction.

Since the 24th, earthquake activity has increased in La Palma, although according to IGN Spain and INVOLCAN these earthquakes are from a hydrothermal source, to do with the high-pressure circulation of water at shallow depths beneath the surface, rather than a magmatic source. As of the 25th, there have been approximately 70 earthquakes between 10-15 km depth peaking at a mbLg 3.1, and they can be differentiated from magmatic earthquakes due to their different frequencies.

An improvement of conditions has allowed for the reduction in exclusion zones close to the lava flows. The areas opened are shown in the map provided by the Cabildo (pictures 1 and 2), however La Bombilla and Puerto Naos still remain in the exclusion zone, due to continuing high CO2 levels being recorded in the area.

Work started on the new road across the lava flows connecting La Laguna and Las Norias on Monday from both sides and has made much quicker progress than expected. The entire 3.3 km road has been slated to take around 5 months, although in just a few days almost half of the route has been completed, with 700-800m being completed in both of the current sections being worked on.

After works that began the day after the eruption was declared over on the 25th December, the La Laguna crossing has been reopened to traffic, after the lava flow covering it was removed and the road was re-tarmacked to allow all vehicles to use it. This reopens a key connection to the north of the lava flow between the towns of La Laguna and Tazacorte.

For the first time since September, controlled access to Puerto Naos for some residents was allowed. This was supervised and residents had a maximum of 45 minutes in the area, only when gas concentrations were low enough. Both Puerto Naos and La Bombilla remain evacuated due to persistently high CO2 concentrations, due to CO2 from cooling magma escaping through fractures in the soil caused by the earthquakes associated with the eruption, according to IGN Scientist Stavros Metetlidis.

In the area of Las Hoyas, near where the lava flows famously flowed down the cliffs onto the lava delta formed by the 1949 eruption, more areas have been reopened for restricted use by farmers and irrigators to tend to crops in the area. 37 more fanegas (1 fanega = 1.59 acres) have been opened in addition to the 87 which have recently been opened.