Large-scale drills will be conducted in Tenerife in case of a volcanic eruption.

The Spanish town of Garachico will host large-scale exercises in the event of a volcanic eruption for the first time. Previously, similar exercises were only practiced on volcanic islands such as Stromboli or Sicily in Italy, or in Hawaii.

These exercises are organized by the authorities of the island of Tenerife as part of the EU MODEX project. European experts will monitor the development of a conditional emergency and how it is handled for a week, from September 22 to 28.

On September 26, at 9 a.m., all residents of Tenerife will receive an emergency message on their phones about the start of volcanic eruption exercises in Garachico.

According to the scenario, the eruption will begin at this point. But from September 22, the level of danger on the island will gradually increase: first there will be a "green" level, then "yellow", "orange" and, finally, "red". This was announced by the President of the Cabildo (local council) Rosa Davila during the presentation of the plan to protect against the volcanic threat.

According to her, in Garachico, especially in the area of the old pier (Muelle Viejo), the population will be evacuated. Other emergencies will be practiced in other parts of the city. About a thousand people will take part in the exercises: technical specialists from the Cabildo, military personnel from the emergency unit, and scientists. "We should not forget that we live on volcanically active islands," she stressed, adding that "there is currently no threat of a volcanic eruption in the near future or in the long term."

Luca D'Auria, director of volcano monitoring at Involcan, assured that the recent small earthquakes in Tenerife are not related to the movement of magma, but are caused by the island's hydrothermal system. He stressed that such minor tremors, ground deformations of several millimeters, and minimal changes in gas emissions would not have been noticed at all 25 years ago.

He also added that such seismic events are normal for an island with an active volcano that is currently "sleeping, but will wake up sooner or later." According to him, the probability of an eruption on La Palma in the next 50 years is 48.7%, on Tenerife - 39.3% (of which 10.6% is for the Teide volcano), and on Gran Canaria - 9.7%.

Luca D'Auria believes that the inhabitants of the Canary Islands are not sufficiently aware of the risk of living in a volcanically active area. He called for increased outreach and expressed hope that people will be more interested in learning about it.