The Cumbre Vieja de La Palma has erupted this afternoon, in the Las Manchas area, after more than a week accumulating thousands of earthquakes in the area. It has been the Institute of Volcanology of the Canary Islands that has reported the eruption of Cumbre Vieja, a volcano that last erupted in 1971.
From the get-go, huge plumes of black and white smoke have shot out from a point on the volcanic ridge where scientists had been closely monitoring the accumulation of molten lava below the surface in recent weeks.
Authorities had already started evacuating the sick and some farm animals from the surrounding villages before the eruption, which took place on a wooded hillside in the Cabeza de Vaca area at 3:15 p.m.
In the immediate aftermath of the eruption, authorities have urged residents to “exercise extreme caution” and stay away from the area, as well as the roads.
The eruption follows a 3.8 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale, the vibrations of which were felt on the surface. In fact, there have been more than 22,000 tremors this week in the Cumbre Vieja area, one of the most active volcanic regions in the Canary Islands.
La Palma, with a population of 85,000 inhabitants, is one of the eight islands of the archipelago of the Canary Islands. Fortunately, the area near the southern tip of the island where the ridge is located is sparsely populated.
The Scientific Committee of the Volcanic Risk Prevention Plan has stated that the strongest earthquakes “are likely to be noticed and may cause damage to buildings.” Also, a stretch of the island’s southwest coast is at risk of landslides and rock falls.
There are eight eruptive mouths (emission points) and more than 5,000 people have already been evacuated, something that, for this type of eruption, is very common.
