The volcano in the Cumbre Vieja ridge on La Palma has been active for almost two weeks. The lava has now reached the sea – and concern in the disaster area is growing.
Santa Cruz de La Palma – The 1000 degrees hot lava from the volcano that erupted a week ago on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma poured into the sea on Wednesday night.
“The lava has reached the sea,” tweeted the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and published impressive photos taken by one of its ships. On them you can see how the glowing orange mass pours like a waterfall over cliffs into the black Atlantic, while smoke and clouds of steam rise up.
The wash reaches the sea. Image taken from the Ramón Margalef oceanographic vessel. pic.twitter.com/gQGoKfkwig
– Spanish Institute of Oceanography (@IEOoceanografia) September 28, 2021
It was feared that if the lava came into contact with the salty sea water, toxic gases mixed with hydrochloric acid could be formed. For this reason, a curfew had already been maintained for four districts with a total of around 300 residents.
The Canarian Security Agency tweeted: “If you are outside, find a safe place to seek refuge.” According to the sea rescue service, the lava has been flowing into the sea since midnight (CEST). A south wind blows. The Oceanography Institute further tweeted that the lava could be seen advancing to the base of the cliff. This is also shown in a video published on the Internet.
#LaPalma volcano lava flow fall from the cliff west of Todoque. Cone formation of volcanic deposits and water vapor clouds and degassing in campaign of @IEOoceanografia @gemar_ieo @sgeologica @ IGME1849 @IGeociencias @VulcanaIEO pic.twitter.com/zV3nDhcAys
– Juan-Tomás Vázquez (@JuanTVaz) September 28, 2021
Volcanic island disaster area since Tuesday
The volcanic island was declared a disaster area on Tuesday. So far, almost 600 buildings have been destroyed by the red-hot mass. The number of people who had to leave their homes fell slightly to 5,600 after some residents were allowed to return. According to estimates by the regional government, the damage amounts to several hundred million euros.
The volcano in the Cumbre Vieja ridge in the south of the island off the west coast of Africa erupted on September 19 for the first time in 50 years. How long he would remain active, even volcanologists could not say. It could take weeks or months. dpa
