On the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma, a volcano erupted on Sunday in the area of the Cumbre Vieja. At 3:12 p.m. local time (4:12 p.m. CEST) there were several violent explosions in the municipality of El Paso in the south of the island, reported the newspaper “El País”. Then the volcano began to throw large amounts of brown and white smoke as well as rocks and red-hot lava into the air.
The volcano has at least four chimneys, i.e. different places where ash, smoke and lava are thrown into the air, reported the state television broadcaster RTVE. Other reports mentioned three to six chimneys.
There was initially no evidence of injuries. The outbreak lies in an unpopulated area of the island, which has a total of 83,000 inhabitants, reported the local television station Canarias7, citing the regional head of government of the Canaries, Ángel Víctor Torres. About 300 people have been evacuated so far, reported the newspaper “Diario de Canarias”. It is not yet clear in which direction the emerging lava will flow. Some fires in the vicinity of inhabited areas have also been reported. The authorities called on the population to remain calm. The outbreak has so far not been particularly explosive.
The outbreak had been announced in the past few days by around 6,600 small and medium-sized earthquakes and a slight rise in the ground. The authorities had called on people near the volcanic area to prepare light luggage with their cell phones, important documents and any medicines they might need.
The last time there was a volcanic eruption on the small island in the northwest of the Canary Islands was 50 years ago when the Teneguía hurled lava into the air in 1971. There is no mass tourism on La Palma like on the better known islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Tenerife.