Volcanic eruption on La Palma: New evacuations – poison cloud causes chaos

The volcano Cumbre Vieja on La Palma spits lava and soot. Again hundreds have to be brought to safety and a poison cloud created uncertainty.

Update from Thursday, October 21, 201, 11.40 a.m.: The volcanic eruption on La Palma seems to have no end. The volcano on the Canary Island has been spewing lava and ash for more than a month. Now there are again hundreds of people on the run. On Thursday night, the Pevolca Emergency Committee ordered the evacuation of several villages in the municipalities of Tazacorte and Los Llanos de Aridane. According to media reports, around 500 people are said to be affected. Almost ten percent of La Palma’s residents have had to be brought to safety since the outbreak.

Meanwhile, the volcano’s lava flows are still threatening the center of the municipality of La Laguna. The hot mass of up to 1270 degrees came dangerously close to the town center on its way to the sea. The approximately 1650 residents were not in danger, however, because they had already been evacuated from their homes last week as a precaution. Depending on the course, the lava could destroy hundreds of houses as well as an old church and the community’s school, as Pevolca boss Miguel Ángel stated. Twitter videos of the volcanological institute of the Canaries show the dangerous development of the lava flows in La Laguna on La Palma.

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Volcanic eruption on La Palma: Spectacular satellite images – chaos through poison cloud

Update from Wednesday, 10/20/2021, 1.30 p.m.: The volcano Cumbre Vieja on the Canary Island of La Palma continues to emit ash, smoke and lava. The resulting lava flows are currently paving their way towards the sea (see update of October 19, 2021). The clouds of smoke from the volcano, on the other hand, move in several directions. Above all, toxic gases, including sulfur dioxide, are distributed in the atmosphere. According to the German Meteorological Service, relatively high concentrations of the oxide mentioned were measured in the atmosphere – also in layers of air in the sky over Germany.

However, according to the DWD, these measured values do not pose a threat to the population. On Tuesday morning (October 19, 2021), numerous concerned citizens called the German Weather Service to inquire about possible dangers. “The phone wires have been running hot since six in the morning,” said a spokesman.

“Chemical cleaning” will take place in the earth’s atmosphere. According to the DWD, a possible consequence of this is that the rain will be “a little more acidic” than in general. Such high sulfur oxide values in the atmosphere were still the regularity in the atmosphere 20 to 30 years ago, according to the DWD spokesman – but do not pose an environmental risk due to the concentration.

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Volcanic eruption on La Palma: lava flow only 30 meters from the coast

Update from Tuesday, October 19, 2021, 1.30 p.m.: The volcano on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma has been spitting ash, smoke and lava for exactly a month – and there is no end in sight. Since the gases escaping from the volcano are currently not being sufficiently withdrawn due to the weather, the authorities have called on around 7,000 residents of the town of El Paso not to leave their homes if possible.

At the same time, a second, more northerly lava flow is about to reach the sea, as the state TV broadcaster RTVE reported. He is only 30 meters away from the cliff. Almost three weeks ago the main stream reached the Atlantic a little further south on its way through the Aridane valley and has since formed a new headland in the sea that is already 36 hectares in size. As in the past, the authorities warned that if the lava, which is around 1,000 degrees Celsius, came into contact with the salty seawater, toxic fumes could be formed.

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Volcano on La Palma: Amazing satellite images – lava flow slows down

+++ 8.45 p.m.: A second lava flow on the Canary volcanic island of La Palma, contrary to initial predictions, will probably not reach the sea on Monday. The current has slowed down significantly and is currently still moving forward at a speed of two meters per hour. The news broadcaster RTVE reports and refers to information from the authorities. On Sunday the current was still flowing towards the sea cliffs at a speed of 15 meters per hour.

The hot mass, at 1270 degrees Celsius, is still 160 meters from the sea. It is certain that sooner or later it will reach the Atlantic and form a new headland. The main stream has been pouring into the sea for a good two weeks and is creating a new headland there, which was already more than 36 hectares in size on Monday. Around 50 soccer fields fit on it.

Volcano on La Palma: Breathtaking satellite images – No air traffic on the weekend

On Monday, meanwhile, flight operations on La Palma were resumed after a two-day interruption. The island’s airport remained operational over the weekend, but the majority of flights had been canceled due to an increase in volcanic ash, which is dangerous for airplanes.

Update from Monday, 10/18/2021, 8.00 a.m.: The volcanic eruption on La Palma continues to paralyze air traffic on the Canary Island. Airplanes on the island had to stay on the ground for the second day in a row on Sunday because of the volcanic ash, an airport spokesman said. All 38 flights planned for the day were therefore canceled. Only four of the 34 planned flights were able to take off on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a second lava flow could reach the sea on Monday and form a new headland there. The volcanological institute of the Spanish region (Involcan) announced on Sunday afternoon that the hot mass, at 1270 degrees Celsius, is around 200 meters from the sea. The lava flow is moving towards the sea cliffs at a speed of 15 meters per hour.

Volcano on La Palma still active: Little hope for a quick end to the lava flows

First message, from Sunday, October 17th, 2021: La Palma – New high-resolution satellite images of the Spanish island of La Palma show lava flows that spread from the volcano Cumbre Vieja on the island. The images, captured on Thursday (October 14, 2021) by a satellite of the US earth observation company Maxar Technologies, show a massive, dark and heavy cloud of smoke that extends over the island from the volcanic crater. Glowing lava flows down the slopes of the mountains towards the coast and destroy everything that stands in their way.

In the description of the natural phenomenon on Twitter, Maxar says: “The lava forms a huge delta on the coast of La Palma and has claimed around 40 hectares of new land from the Atlantic.” By the lava flows with their surface temperatures of 500 to over 1000 ° C flow into the sea, they solidify into volcanic rock and thus increase the land mass on the edges of the island at the expense of the area of the Atlantic.

More serious, however, for the people on La Palma are poisonous gases that arise when the lava enters the sea. During the chemical reaction that occurs as soon as the boiling hot lava meets water, hydrochloric acid is released, among other things. In gaseous form, hydrochloric acid is highly corrosive and extremely dangerous for the respiratory tract of humans and animals. In addition, contact can cause burns to the surface of the skin and irritation of the eyes.

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Lava from the volcano Cumbre Vieja on La Palma meets sea water: poisonous gases are created

But that’s not all. Donald Bruce Dingwell, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry Section at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, told the RND: “A volcano contains many gases, from uranium to fluorine to sulfur, which mostly escape upwards . However, some of the gases are also stored in the lava, which degassed on its way. “

As soon as the lava encounters sea water, other gases, such as bromine, sulfur and chlorine, would be released: “The reason why it is so spicy when lava flows into the sea is that the explosions and evaporation of sea water cause a lot many aerosols are formed. If you stand in the wrong wind direction, you get the aerosols completely. “

The local authorities responded to this danger with a security area within 3.5 kilometers. Residents inside were asked to stay in their houses and keep the windows closed to avoid inhaling the toxic gases. Incidentally, this process does not harm the environment, said Dingwell. Lava has been flowing into the sea for four and a half billion years, this is a “natural process” that does not harm the earth – in contrast to the local people.

1,817 buildings on La Palma fell victim to the lava of the volcano Cumbre Vieja

On Twitter, the Institute of Volcanology of the Canary Islands (Involcan) published its own recordings, filmed from the ground, of the lava flows of the Cumbre Vieja, which make their way past abandoned houses. The description says: “Our crew was able to film a real lava” tsunami “today.”

The spectacle is less entertaining for the local population. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Monitoring Service, 1,817 buildings have fallen victim to the boiling lava since the volcanic eruption began on September 19, 2021. More than 7.3 square kilometers of land have already been affected, while the Cumbre Vieja volcano spews more and more lava onto the island.

The eruptions intensified last weekend after part of the Cumbre Vieja crater collapsed on Saturday (October 9, 2021) and the lava was then able to flow in new directions. Boulders the size of a house rolled down the crater, new lava flows found their way to the Atlantic coast in no time at all, destroying settlements on their way that had been spared from the original runoff.

Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma erupted for the first time after around 50 years of rest

According to the British Guardian, the local authorities on La Palma on Thursday (October 14th) instructed about 300 people to evacuate their homes in the cities of Tazacorte and La Laguna. Those affected only had a few hours to save their belongings and pets.

Meanwhile, the sulfur dioxide cloud emitted by the volcano is spreading over Europe and reaching heights of up to 5 kilometers, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). The gas cloud is expected to cross Europe from west to east in the coming days, according to Mark Parrington, lead scientist at CAMS, on Twitter.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted for the first time on September 19, 2021 after around 50 years of rest. Over 20,000 light earthquakes alerted geologists and local authorities the week before the magma erupted inside the volcano. Experts fear that the eruptions could last for months. (ms / ska / tu with AFP / dpa)

List of rubric lists: © Saul Santos / dpa