Canary Islands: Volcano erupts on La Palma
The highly anticipated eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canaries started on the 19 September, sending lava shooting into the air and threatening nearby villages.
Published 3 years ago
Updates to this news in comments at bottom of page.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano situated in the Cumbre Vieja National Park at El Paso, is in the south of the island and last erupted 50 years ago, in 1971.
Small earthquakes began around ten days ago and as they started to get closer to the surface locals started preparing for evacuation. When a 3.8 quake struck on the morning of 19 September the authorities started evacuating disabled people, pets and livestock.
At 1415 GMT on Sunday 19 September, the volcano exploded. The closest settlement in El Paraiso was evacuated immediately. A further 5000 people have now been evacuated.
- Lava erupting from the volcano on La Palma (c) Reuters
The head of the Canary Islands government, Angel Victor Torres, said the zone was forested and ‘sparsely populated’. The government has asked people to be extremely careful and to stay away from the eruption zone to avoid needless risk.
News agency Reuters reported video footage showed fountains of lava shooting hundreds of metres into the sky and at least three incandescent orange rivers of molten rock pouring down the hill, tearing gashes into woods and farmland and spreading as they reached lower ground.
Locals report that a fissure has opened on the western flank of La Cumbre Vieja, feeding lava fountains and flows into surrounding communities, forests, and farmlands. Lava flows in the SW of the island are slowly tracking towards the sea.
At this time, a collapse of La Palma or the volcano there seems unlikely. Historical volcanic activity in the area suggests the eruption could last several weeks, perhaps even months. The submarine eruption of Tagoro, off the island of El Hierro, lasted five months. But it is still too early to know how this latest eruption will develop.
Pedro Gonzalez from the Marina La Palma told Noonsite that the marina was safe and operating without any problems as the volcanic eruption was taking place on the other side of the island from them.
Ash clouds affected visibility at La Palma Airport located 7 km (4 miles) south of Santa Cruz de La Palma, forcing a temporary closure through the evening on Sunday; operations have since resumed. Further flight disruptions are possible if winds direct ash clouds in the general direction of the airport.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Related News
- Volcano Erupts in Canary Islands – Spain in English
- Lava pours out of Volcano on La Palma, Canary Islands – Reuters
- Spanish Canary Island Volcano Erupts – The Guardian
- Volcanic eruption in La Palma: Why did it happen and how … – El Pais
- The Tsunami Risk – La Palma Island
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Noonsite has not independently verified this information.
Related to following destinations: Canary Islands, La Palma
Related to the following Cruising Resources: Earthquakes and Tsunamis, Environment, General, Weather
The volcano was declared extinct on 25 December, 2021.
The volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands has now been erupting for nearly three months – the longest running eruption on the island since records began in 1500, according to the authorities – and it shows no sign of ending.
Chris Tibbs [https://www.sailing-weather.com/] – weather router – told Noonsite, “apart from not wanting to be close downwind of the volcano I do not think it will have a large effect on navigation. More spectacular sunsets perhaps and less accuracy if there is much dust in the atmosphere when using a sextant, but this can also be a problem with Saharan dust in the atmosphere. If anything, it would encourage me to go on a more southerly route to avoid being downwind of the volcano but I do not think that it will affect the trade winds. I have been in contact with one yacht passing N of La Palma then gybing south at about 22W without any reports of anything out of the ordinary.”
The volcano, which has been erupting since late September, is losing energy but continues to spew ash and lava. Air quality is deteriorating however experts say the eruption will not end in the short term.
The eruption is now the longest on record on the island. More earthquakes and the strongest recorded yet, registering 4.5 on the Richter scale, have continued to cause alarm. On Thursday 14 October, the cone on the Cumbre Vieja volcano could no longer contain the quantity of lava flow, causing a large wave of lava to escape. A new river of lava from the volcano had taken hold on Wednesday, creating further problems for those on the island, who are facing the threat of additional disruptions and fear for their homes and property. President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Victor Torres, said that ‘this is definitely the most serious eruption in Europe in the last 100 years … the only good news is that so far nobody has been hurt’.
Read full news article at https://www.spainenglish.com/2021/10/15/la-palma-strongest-earthquake-volcano-erupted-new-lava-flows/
The exclusion zone has been further extended one mile to the north – https://www.mitma.gob.es/
Canary Islands volcano: Hundreds more evacuated as La Palma lava nears sea
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58636707
As of Tuesday (21 September), the end of the flow was located about 2.7 km from the
coast and advancing at a speed of about 700 meters per hour. Local officials said the lava could trigger a chemical reaction that causes explosions and the release of toxic gases when it reaches the sea.
Marine authorities have established an exclusion zone along a 0.5NM stretch of shore in the area where the lava is heading, between Punta del Pozo (Puerto Naos) – to the south – and Las Viñas beach (Tazacorte) – to the north – and 2NM (3.7km) out to sea.There is a 2km exclusion zone from the eruption also
in effect.Good info. at Canary News: https://thecanarynews.com/2021/09/the-lava-of-la-palma-flows-towards-the-sea-as-5500-evacuated-from-2km-exclusion-zone/