Further to recent media reports raising concern that Tenerife is vulnerable to the potential imminent eruption of Mount Teide, the “Cabildo de Tenerife” (Tenerife Government) would like to clarify that:
Mount Teide is a dormant volcano and shows no signs of volcanic activity according to ITER; (the institute that manages volcanic surveillance and which is a member of WOVO, World Organisation of Volcanic Observatories).
In addition, neither the Scientific Volcanic Evaluation and Monitor Committee (Comite Cientifico de Evaluacion y Seguimiento de Fenomenos Volcanicos), a national commission that evaluates volcanic activity in Spain, nor the IGN (National Geographic Institute), a public organisation responsible for the observation, surveillance and communication of volcanic activity, have sent a warning of volcanic activity in Teide to the authorities responsible for civil protection on the island. We therefore must highlight that the volcanic situation in Tenerife remains normal, as there is no indication of any volcanic risk.
The President of the “Cabildo de Tenerife”, Ricardo Melchior, has submitted a written complaint to the Superior Council of Scientific Investigation for the contradictory and incorrect information released by certain scientists of this organisation, which could lead the public to believe that there is a risk of volcanic activity in Tenerife.
The Cabildo would like to stress that Tenerife remains a safe destination, not only because there is currently no evidence of any risk of volcanic activity, but also because the island is equipped to deal with any volcanic risk situation (evacuation, volcanic surveillance and monitoring programme, etc).
Mount Teide in Tenerife is a dormant Volcano
3 comments ↓
Good to see official clarification. Hope it puts visitors’ minds at rest.
The piece in the Sun is quite an irresponsible piece of journalism. I’d love to hear from anyone who was actually ‘warned’ about travelling to Tenerife, but somehow I think that’s unlikely to happen. it’s an absolute non-story.
I told some Canarian friends about it and they found it bizarre, they couldn’t understand why a British paper would print something so completely inaccurate…but then they don’t know The Sun.
The paper should start to carry ‘a work of fiction’ as its by-line.
Absolutely agree – totally iresponsible, sensationalist journalism.
I take geology students to Tenerife every year and volcanic hazard is one of the things we study.
OK, as Dr Garcia says, there is an eruption on Tenerife around about every hundred years – Chinyero, a small cinder cone, in 1909, Chahorra on the side of Pico Viejo in 1798, and several small eruptions above Guimar and Garachico at the start of the 18th century but these are minor eruptions of slow moving basalt lava – and would more likely be a tourist attraction! Hawaii copes with this sort of thing regularly.
The sort of large and violent eruption the Sun article suggests hasn’t happened for over 2000 years (the last one was at Montana Blanca on the NE side of Teide) and, although one could happen again in the future it would be a very rare event indeed.
As the Cabildo suggests, much work has been done recently by volcanologists to identify hazards, assess risks and plan emergency measures for the island but these would much more likely need to be applied in the case of a small eruption of the type that destroyed Garachico harbour.
Classic British rag mag journalism. Anything to sell papers and negative always sells more. Hopefully the canarian government will learn to be a bit more proactive regarding their own media.
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