UK tourists heading to Tenerife later this month are being warned of a 'potentially scary' volcano alert. The island is set to hold its biggest volcanic emergency simulation, involving more than 1,000 participants from emergency services and research groups.
On September 26, everyone on the island will receive an 'eruption' alert on their mobile phones at 9 am. Many residents will be asked to leave their homes as part of the drill, which has been planned for some time.
The simulated emergency will be based in the town of Garachico in the north, covering areas considered at highest volcanic risk: Garachico, El Tanque, Santiago del Teide, and Guía de Isora. It will be the first municipality in Spain to carry out such a drill for a volcanic emergency.
Organised by Tenerife's government within the EU MODEX project, the exercise will involve coordinated action between scientists, the military, emergency services, local authorities, and the Red Cross. The operation will run from September 22 to 28.
Island council president Rosa Dávila emphasised that Mount Teide is not likely to erupt soon. She said: 'We must not forget that we are volcanically active islands although we are not at all facing an imminent situation of volcanic emergency neither in the short nor in the medium term.'
Lucca D'Auria, director of volcanic monitoring at Involcan, stressed that recent seismic activity is 'not at all' indicative of magma movement, but rather relates to the island's hydrothermal system. He described the seismic swarms as 'fitting within normality' on a volcanically active island that is currently 'asleep' but will 'sooner or later will wake up.'
