Cumbre Vieja volcano in Spain intensifies its seismicity as lava advances through three streams
La Palma volcano in Spain does not stop roaring and increases its seismicity.
Photo: Marcos del Mazo / Getty Images
The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma continues to roar 26 days after the start of your eruption, with a seismicity that has been increasing in the last hours and with the slow but inexorable advance of the lava, which have forced new population evictions.
In the last hours they have registered on the island dozens of earthquakes, according to information from the National Geographic Institute (IGN) of Spain, of which three have been felt by the population.
The largest one took place last morning with a magnitude of 4.5, at a depth of 37 kilometers, after another of 4.1, three seconds before the previous one and at the same depth.
The two arms of the most active lavage of the three that have formed since the eruption began They have slowed down their progress after entering the neighborhood of La Laguna, in the town of Los Llanos de Aridane, already completely evacuated, after taking a supermarket in front of them and crossing the football field.
The technical director of the body that supervises the evolution of the eruption, the Volcanic Emergency Plan of the Canary Islands (Pevolca), Miguel Ángel Morcuende, explained this Thursday that the advance of this laundry in the last hours led to the preventive evacuation of the people who They had not yet been evicted, and according to the census there are about 400.
On October 12, another 800 had been evacuated with what those who have had to leave their homes at some point since the beginning of the eruption exceeds 7,000.
The director of Pevolca has insisted that these are preventive evacuations carried out with enough time “so that no one feels overwhelmed”, a decision taken after analyzing the traceability maps, but it is difficult to anticipate the place where the lava may flow or if Neighbors will be able to return if progress slows down or stops.
In the monitoring of the volcano, no great news has been registered in recent hours, according to the scientific spokesperson of that organization, María José Blanco.
Seismicity continues to be located slightly to the south of the initial swarm prior to the eruption, with a somewhat lower number of earthquakes but with a somewhat higher magnitude, the maximum of 4.5, an earthquake located at great depth and felt throughout the island.
Sulfur dioxide emissions from the volcano remain high, with values of 15,995 tons per day, and the height of the ash and gas column reaches 2,600 meters.
The air quality in the last hours remains good or reasonably good, with some higher point measurements of sulfur dioxide or particles that continue to advise the use of masks in the Aridane valley, but for the first time in this episode a measurement has been registered elevated at the Izaña Atmospheric Research Center, on the neighboring island of Tenerife.
The wind on La Palma blows from the northwest, so that the gases and ashes are dispersed towards the southwest, that is, towards the sea, which is good for the operation of the airport.
As of Friday, an arrival of Saharan air is expected that will not affect air traffic, although the decrease in the level of thermal inversion may worsen air quality.
The latest data on the extent of the lava indicate that there are 674.5 hectares affected, 34.23 more than the day before., and the maximum width of the wash remains at 1,770 meters.
Data from the Copernicus ground monitoring satellites indicate that 1,600 buildings are affected, of which 1,548 are destroyed and 86 affected.
The lava has also destroyed 179.3 hectares of crops, of which 92.97 hectares are banana trees, 50.17 vineyards and 12.21 avocado trees.
With information from Efe.
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