Los Janos de Aridan, Canary Islands — A volcano on a Spanish island that has filled more than 500 buildings and evacuated more than 6,000 people since last week reduced activity on Monday, but scientists said the eruption phase ended. Warning that it was too early to declare that it was done, authorities ordered that residents need to stay indoors to avoid unhealthy smoke from the encounter of seawater with lava.
The ash eruption from the main vent on September 19 stopped early on Monday, with live footage of the Cumbre Vieja Mountains on La Palma on public television in the Canary Islands. However, the pillars of ash and volcanic material have returned after a two-hour rest.
“The volcano in La Palma has entered an inactive stage,” the Madrid-based Institute for Earth Sciences (IGEO) said in a tweet. “Let’s see how it will evolve in the next few hours.”
The Institute of Volcanology in the archipelago has published a graph showing the sharp decline in seismic activity in the region. “In the last few hours, volcanic sway and strombolian eruption have almost disappeared,” Involcan said on Twitter. However, the institute had to continue with another post, which later announced that in addition to the ash cloud, “re-release of lava in the main cone has also been confirmed.”
According to the National Institute of Geography of Spain, more activity was detected in the Fuencaliente region of Spain, as a swarm of earthquakes before and with the first volcanic eruption in Spain for half a century moved south. Experts were also wary.
“Just because the volcano is less active doesn’t mean it won’t change,” the institute’s chief investigator, Stavros Meredridis, told Antenna 3, a commercial broadcaster in Spain.
Meanwhile, island officials have said that lava above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,830 degrees Fahrenheit) is a resident of four regions to avoid toxic gases that could be released by encountering Atlantic water at about 20 degrees Celsius. Advised him to stay indoors.
Scientists say that thermal shock releases a water vapor plume loaded with hydrochloric acid and small particles of volcanic glass, which can cause skin, eye, and airway irritation.
After the wind dispersed the volcanic clouds the day before, shopkeepers and residents were also clearing the layers of volcanic ash that had fallen over Santa Cruz de la Palmas, the capital of the island.
Since Sunday, the velocity of the flow has increased as more fluid lava descends down steep slopes towards the cliffs towards the sea. According to officials, the stream was about 800 meters after reaching the water early on Monday.
According to the EU satellite surveillance service Copernicus, more than 230 hectares were filled with lava and more than 18 kilometers of roads were destroyed. The melted rocks destroyed the irrigation infrastructure of homes, schools, churches, health centers, and the island’s banana plantations, which provide nearly one-third of the island’s work.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported since the eruption of the volcano.
Home to about 85,000, La Palma is part of the volcanoes of the Canary Islands, an archipelago in northwestern Africa. The island is approximately 35 km (22 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide.
Daniel Roca and Alitz Para
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