The new volcano of La Palma has erupted this Sunday at 3:12 p.m. in Montaña Rajada in the municipality of El Paso.
A small earthquake preceded, in the Las Manchas neighborhood of the La Palma municipality of El Paso, a large explosion that was followed by a huge column of smoke and the expulsion of pyroclasts.
The seismic swarm of Cumbre Vieja that began last Saturday, September 11, has led, in a rapid and energetic process, into a telluric episode that occurs half a century after Teneguía, so far the youngest surface volcano in Spain.
The volcano has emerged in an uninhabited mountain area while the population with reduced mobility in nearby towns was being evacuated, causing small forest fires.
🔴 # UltimaHora Volcanic eruption occurs in # LaPalma # VigilanciaLaPalma #VolcanLaPalma pic.twitter.com/S1qgDYHR8Y
- RTVC (@RTVCes) September 19, 2021
After two quiet days on the Canary Island of La Palma, seismic activity had reactivated with several earthquakes felt by the population on Sunday morning (the largest of 3.8), giving clear testimony that the volcanic crisis was precipitated. The movements have been felt in six locations. In addition, numerous earthquakes above magnitude 2 are repeated over and over again in increasingly shallow depths near the small town of El Paso, three of them also felt by palm trees, according to data from the National Geographic Institute (IGN). Since this phenomenon began, the IGN has registered more than 6,600 small earthquakes in the Cumbre Vieja area, in the south of La Palma. In the current pre-eruptive situation,the authorities have decided to proceed with the "preventive evacuation" of fifty dependents who live in the most affected neighborhoods.
La Palma: Canary Islands tremble again due to a possible volcanic eruption
The authorities decided on Monday the 13th to raise the alert for volcanic risk to a yellow traffic light. This level of alert is the second of four, and it only implies a preparation and information phase for the population, which is what has been done in recent days. Several informational meetings have been called for the residents and evacuation plans have already been established in case of raising the alert to an orange or red traffic light, with the soccer fields in the area as a meeting point. This alert affects the municipalities of Fuencaliente, Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso and Villa de Mazo, with some 35,000 people affected in total. For now, the experts have decided today Sunday to keep the traffic light at a yellow level. The process “can have a rapid evolution in the short term” and increases “the probability that it will culminate in an eruption,without being able to establish a temporary window ”.
Earthquakes located by the IGN on the island of La Palma.IGN / Europa Press
This seismic swarm, as this temporary concentration is called at a site of numerous small earthquakes, alerted scientists to the possibility of a surface volcanic eruption.
Volcanic activity on La Palma had ceased since the Teneguía eruption in 1971, at the southern tip of the island.
But in 2017, seismic activity was reactivated and in these years there have been several swarms until the latter and more intense, which began on September 11.
The alert affects four municipalities with about 35,000 people affected in total
On Thursday, scientists recorded a 10-centimeter deformation of the island right in the Cumbre Vieja area where the earthquakes are occurring, which would indicate the presence of magma in the subsoil exerting pressure towards the surface.
Since then, this deformation had slowed down, but today the IGN reported that the island has already bulged up to 15 centimeters.
In addition, earthquakes occur increasingly at shallower depths.
This crisis began with earthquakes more than 20 kilometers deep and those that have occurred in recent days are around 5 kilometers, with some, the most intense, only a few hundred meters from the surface.
The scientists warned that it was likely "the occurrence of earthquakes felt of greater intensity, which can cause damage to buildings"
The crisis committee (Pevolca) had already announced on Friday that it was likely "the occurrence of felt earthquakes of greater intensity, which can cause damage to buildings." They also warned of the possibility of rock falls (Puerto Naos). For this reason, today it has been decided to close the forest trails and tracks in that area of the island. In addition, the experts did not rule out the beginning of other phenomena observable on the surface, such as changes in temperature, odor and color of the water or the anomalous behavior of animals.
The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has held talks with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and other members of his Executive to prepare the response to this possible eruption.
The Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, who was traveling to La Palma today to inquire about the situation, has decided not to go "given the latest events" and instead the Director General of Civil Protection of the Ministry of the Interior, Leopoldo Marcos, will travel .
In addition, different teams have been mobilized, including a plane requested by the Government of the Canary Islands from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition for the monitoring and follow-up of volcanic activity.
[This news can be updated with news about the seismic situation]
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