MADRID: A volcano on Spain’s Atlantic island of Los Angeles Palma erupted on Sunday after a weeklong buildup of seismic activity, prompting authorities to hurry up evacuations for 1,000 people as lava flows crept towards isolated homes on the mountain.
The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute reported the eruption on Cumbre Vieja, which last erupted in 1971. Huge red plumes topped with black-and-white smoke shot out along a volcanic ridge that scientists had been closely watching following the buildup of molten lava below the surface and days of small earthquakes.
Mariano Hernndez, the president of los angeles Palma island, told Canary Islands Television there have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths from the eruption. He said there have been five eruption points, of which two were spewing magma.
The explosion happened in a neighborhood referred to as Cabeza de Vaca on the western slope of the volcanic ridge because it descends to the coast. Tinges of red might be seen at rock bottom of the black jets that shot rocks into the air.
One black lava flow with a burning tip was sliding towards some houses within the village of El Paso . Mayor Sergio Rodrguez said 300 people in immediate danger had been evacuated from their homes and sent to the El Paso soccer field. Roads were closed thanks to the explosion and authorities urged the curious to not approach the world .
La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one among eight islands in Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast. At their nearest point to Africa, they’re 100 kilometers from Morocco.
Itahiza Dominguez, head of seismology of Spain’s National Geology Institute, told local television station RTVC that although it had been too early to inform how long this eruption would last, prior eruptions on the Canary Islands lasted weeks or maybe months.
The last eruption on the Canary Islands occurred underwater off the coast of El Hierro island in 2011. That eruption last five months.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez cancelled his trip to ny to attend the UN General Assembly so he could travel from Spain’s mainland to the Canary Islands archipelago.
After days of what scientists call an earthquake swarm, authorities on La Palma had already began to evacuate residents with reduced mobility shortly before ground broke open.
The area near the southern tip of the island where the ridge is found isn’t densely populated. Residents of the five nearby villages had already been told to get on alert and prepared to go away their homes just in case of an eruption.
A 3.8-magnitude quake was recorded before the eruption as vibrations from the seismic activity were felt on the surface.
The Scientific Committee of the Volcano Risk Prevention Plan said stronger earthquakes are likely to be felt and should cause damage to buildings. The committee of experts also noted that a stretch of the islands southwest coast was in danger for landslides and rock falls.
