La Palma volcano gives clear signs that the eruption might be over
According to the Institute of Volcanology of the Canary Islands, the volcanic tremor has disappeared since Monday night at around 9:00 p.m., which is the longest period of inactivity since the eruption began on September 19.
UPDATE - Wednesday, December 15th
This is a message posted by INVOLCAN (Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias) on Facebook:
"We are pleased to report that the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) registered yesterday, Tuesday (12/14/2021) since 2:00 p.m., from the current eruptive process in Cumbre Vieja, has been estimated as EXTREDINGLY LOW (< 0.06 kg / s or <5 tons per day). We hope that this issuance rate will be confirmed in the next few days."
Vincente Soler (volcanologist) has declared to Television Canaria that this is a clear sign that points towards the end of the eruption and that a reactivation of the volcano seems to be unlikely.
However, the Institute of Volcanology reminds that on other occasions this lack of tremor has been followed by an increase in volcanic activity, although they also admit to the fact that this has been the longest time since the start of the eruption when the volcano had stopped.
On Monday evening, between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., the volcano had a huge explosive activity, which some people said to be "the final fireworks" of this eruptive episode. It was in fact a major explosive phase with the ejection of material and lava bombs from the main eruptive cone, but after this episode, the activity has decreased until it almost disappeared.
According to Miguel Ángel Morcuende, the technical director of Pevolca, “The activity is at a time of impasse. We are facing a clearly attenuated emergency at this time".
In the last few hours, no more lava has reached the sea and even at the moment the cone is not emitting lava.
