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Spain: How long could the eruption of the La Palma volcano last in the Canary Islands?

2021-09-19T22:11:39.836Z


Five hours after the eruption, the tremors continued in the towns closest to the center of the phenomenon.


Marina Artusa

09/19/2021 18:46

  • Clarín.com

  • World

Updated 9/19/2021 6:46 PM

Hours of anguish, fear and uncertainty lives the Canary Island of La Palma where this Sunday, at 15.15 -9.15 in Argentina-, the Cumbre Vieja volcano began to spit lava and pyroclasts, solid fragments of incandescent rock,

which forced the evacuation of about 5,000 people

in one of the youngest islands of the Canary archipelago, in Spain.

Five hours after the eruption, tremors continued in the towns closest to the volcano, such as El Paso, Los Llanos and Tazacorte, and

the risk level rose to 2

, which for experts means a red alert.

There are, for now, no victims, but

the lava already affects some homes

in the five closest municipalities.

According to the Civil Guard, the residents who will have to leave their homes due to the danger posed by the 1,100 degrees of temperature that the lava rivers carry could

reach 10,000

.

The lava has about 1,100 degrees of temperature and could reach 10,000.

AP Photo

After a week of seismic movements of varying intensity, the eruption did not wait any longer.

Over the hours, volcanologists came to identify seven active mouths.

According to them, it is a

“stombolian fissure”

eruption

, similar to the one that occurred 50 years ago.

To the sea

At ten o'clock at night, the lava, advancing at the pace of a man,

descended towards the sea

for which the coast, populated with tourists, had to be evacuated.

The rescue teams asked to clear the roads to facilitate the evacuation and the president of the Canarian government, Angel Victor Torres, asked the population,

almost desperately, to "stay away" from the place.

The scientific coordinator of the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands, Nemesio Pérez, admitted that the eruption took them

"a bit by surprise"

, despite the fact that the island had been shaken for a week by more than 6,000 earthquakes of varying intensity.

How long could this eruption last on La Palma?

Due to the lava, tourists had to be evacuated from the palyas.

AP Photo

According to the volcanologist Joan Martin, director of the Barcelona Geosciences group of the Higher Council for Scientific Research, the eruption, which is not violent or uncontrolled,

could last a couple of weeks or more.

The last was in 1971,

when the Teneguía volcano awakened the islanders for more than ten days.

Between October 26 and November 18 of that year, the Teneguía expelled

43 million cubic meters of lava.

Unpredictable


Last week, at Cumbre Vieja

there were 11 million cubic meters

of lava at a depth of five meters.

For David Calvo, geologist at the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands,

the duration of the eruption

is

"totally unpredictable"

until it is clear what the dynamics of volcanic activity are and the fissures through which they are being ejected are studied in more detail. gases, lava and pyroclasts.

Since the 15th century, when the Canaries were conquered,

La Palma monopolized seven of the 16 eruptions that the archipelago suffered.

For now,

the airspace

of the islands

has not been closed

, but the suspension of classes has been decreed in the affected municipalities.

About to leave for New York, where he planned to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, President Pedro Sánchez canceled his trip and headed to La Palma where the seven mouths of the volcano spat columns of lava that reached 400 meters high. height.

PB

Look also

Spain: a volcano erupted on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands

The Icelandic volcano that has not stopped expelling stone and lava for six months

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-09-19

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