Volcanic Simulation Sparks Unintended Alarm
A major volcanic simulation scheduled for Friday, September 26th, in Garachico, which will put the entire island of Tenerife on alert, has already generated its first false alarm. On Wednesday afternoon, a document titled “Update on Volcanic Activity in Tenerife” began circulating on messaging apps. It claimed there was a “high probability that the situation could evolve into an eruptive process in the short term.” However, official sources confirmed to this publication that the document is actually part of the materials to be distributed on Friday to some residents participating in the drill.
Details of the Planned Evacuation Drill
The exercise will involve the evacuation of approximately 200 people from the area around Garachico’s old pier. This location was one of the most severely affected areas during the historic Trevejo eruption of 1706, making it a strategically significant site for the simulation. The premature arrival of this message on the phones of Tenerife residents has the potential to cause significant concern, especially as it comes at a time when the island has experienced more than 20 minor earthquakes in the last 24 hours.
Fact vs. Fiction in the Leaked Document
A closer look at the data in the document makes it clear that it is a fictional scenario created for the drill. For instance, the text reports nearly 1,800 earthquakes since September 22nd—a figure that spans roughly two days. However, if we check the real data from the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan), the numbers aren’t even close. In reality, only 22 tremors were registered between Monday and Tuesday, with a single, additional one recorded on Wednesday in the La Orotava area.
The Fictional Volcanic Crisis Scenario
The simulated document also describes a “clear superficial ground deformation with a maximum of two centimeters in the last 24 hours in the area of seismicity.” It adds that this seismic activity is moving towards the northwest of the island, an area deemed most “susceptible to magma ascent.” Furthermore, it notes a “significant increase in the concentration levels of CO2 and radon in the zone.”
All this fabricated data is designed to indicate a “process of magmatic intrusion in the volcanic system of Tenerife’s northwest ridge,” creating a scenario with a “high probability of evolving into an eruptive process in the short term (days or weeks).” The municipalities that would be affected in this drill scenario are Icod de los Vinos, Garachico, El Tanque, Los Silos, Buenavista del Norte, Santiago del Teide, and Guía de Isora. While such information would understandably cause alarm among the public, in this case, it is merely a false alarm originating from the early leak of a training document for Friday’s simulation.
