Tenerife is preparing for evacuation drills in case of a Teide eruption.

Tenerife is preparing for drills in case of an eruption of the Teide volcano. From September 22 to 26, the town of Garachico will test how quickly and smoothly the services will act in the event of an emergency.

More than a thousand people will participate in the exercises. They should show whether the volcano eruption response plan developed on the island works well.

This was announced by the President of the Cabildo (local council), Rosa Davila, at a press conference. She was accompanied by the Councilor for Nature, Blanca Perez, the Head of Security, Ivan Martin, the Head of Civil Protection, Nestor Padron, and the volcanologist, Luca D'Auria.

Garachico was chosen for a reason. According to research, the northwestern part of the island, including the towns of El Tanque, Santiago del Teide and Guia de Isora, is the most vulnerable to volcanic activity.

Rosa Davila reassured that there are currently no signs of an eruption. But she emphasized that it is necessary to be prepared for any development of events: "We do not want to sow panic. We just want to have a clear plan to respond and act quickly if necessary." According to her, the local authorities are cooperating with scientists to have everything necessary to protect people in an emergency.

She also noted that funding has been increased for prevention measures, municipalities are being helped to develop their own response plans (a meeting on this issue is scheduled for September 15), and aid stations are being created together with the Red Cross and pharmacists. In addition, a management system has been developed where scientists and the military will coordinate their actions.

The most important stage of the exercises will take place on September 26. At 9:00 a.m., all Tenerife residents will receive an alarm message on their phones. This will be a simulation of the transition to a "red level" of danger and the start of an eruption. After that, people will start to be evacuated from the old port of Garachico.

According to the head of civil protection, Nestor Padron, this is not just a training exercise, but a learning exercise that will help different services work together smoothly, and people will be more aware and prepared for danger. He called for the development of a joint strategy involving all services and municipalities, taking into account everything from helping vulnerable populations to evacuating tourists and animals.

Padron added that due to climate change, managing risks is becoming increasingly difficult, so more attention needs to be paid to forecasting and prevention.

Volcanologist Luca D'Auria noted Tenerife's progress in civil protection and volcano monitoring over the past 25 years. He announced that three new devices will be installed for earlier detection of possible eruptions. "The warning time can be very short, even a week, so it is important to be able to quickly analyze the magma," he said.

He also reminded that since 2016, certain anomalies related to groundwater have been recorded in Tenerife, but in most cases this does not lead to an eruption. "The island is sleeping, but sooner or later it will wake up," he said, adding that this could happen in a year or in a century.

According to Involcan's forecasts, the probability of an eruption in Tenerife is almost 40% in the next 50 years and more than 63% in the next 100 years.

D'Auria also emphasized that the risk of an eruption in the Canary Islands is increasing due to the increase in population and construction, which makes people more vulnerable. At the same time, he expressed regret that people are not very interested in information about the danger. For example, before the eruption on La Palma, almost no one came to the lecture on prevention.