Spain: new lava area of ​​Cumbre Vieja, 6,000 people evacuated

Published on : 09/21/2021 – 11:28

The opening of a new eruptive mouth at the level of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which erupted on the Spanish island of La Palma, in the Canaries, led, on Monday, September 20, to the evacuation of 500 additional residents, bringing to 6,000 the total number of people forced to leave their homes.

“The appearance of a new eruptive mouth” in the area of ​​Tacande, in the municipality of El Paso, led to the “evacuation of the inhabitants” “, tweeted the emergency relief service of the archipelago on Monday evening.

“Some 500 people” had to leave their homes overnight, confirmed to AFP Tuesday morning Lorena Hernandez Labrador, city councilor in Los Llanos de Aridane, a neighboring village severely affected by the lava flows.

The opening of this eruptive mouth came after a new earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1, recorded at 9:32 p.m. (8:32 p.m. GMT), according to the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan).

AFPTV footage showed lines of cars evacuating through the night.

Between 8,000 and 10,500 tonnes of sulfur dioxide per day

The lava flows spewed out by the Cumbre Vieja volcano, whose speed has slowed, had not yet reached the ocean on Tuesday morning, when, according to preliminary forecasts, they should have arrived on the coast on Monday evening.

Cumbre Vieja spews columns of smoke up to several hundred meters high and between 8,000 and 10,500 tonnes of sulfur dioxide per day, according to Involcan, but despite this, the airspace has not been closed.

The Spanish airport manager Aena announced that all the flights scheduled for Monday at La Palma airport had been carried out and that 48 others were scheduled for Tuesday.

“We have no human loss to deplore (…) and I believe that this is the best news”, welcomed the president of the region, Angel Victor Torres, during a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, arrived on site Sunday evening.

If it caused no casualties, this eruption, the first since 1971 on this island populated by nearly 85,000 inhabitants, caused significant damage, with lava flows setting fire to vegetation in their path, covering the roads and having destroyed a hundred houses.

With AFP