Volcanic eruption on La Palma / Spain: New explosion at night – powerful lava flow is still flowing

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  • fromMartina Lippl

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The volcano on La Palma shows no weakness. A second lava flow falls down the northern slope and destroys banana plantations. The current has not yet reached the sea.

La Palma – Last night there was a new explosion of the volcano on La Palma. A mighty lava flow then plunged down near Tacande, as reported by the Canarian volcano research institute Involcan. “Breathtaking sight” tweeted Involcan to a video on which the glowing red lava flow can be seen. The lava flows down a path created by previous currents. This makes it thicker and cools down the further it goes down.

La Palma: volcano still active

According to the volcano researchers, the various lava flows that flow down the slope of the Cumbre Vieja have entered a phase of “stability and slowness”. The second stream that appeared on Sunday northwest of the volcanic cone also slowed down significantly. On the edge of the La Laguna mountain in the south of La Palma, it is only moving forward at a speed of two meters per hour. The lava tongue, which has a temperature of 1270 degrees, is now 160 meters from the sea. On Sunday, the lava mass was still rolling towards the sea at around 15 kilometers per hour.

The regional head of the IGN Geographic Institute, María José Blanco, said in the newspaper that she destroyed banana plantations again on Monday The world quoted. In the meantime, according to the data from the Copernicus satellite, which only analyzes buildings without specifying the type, 1,956 destroyed and 60 partially damaged or endangered buildings have been classified. More than 760 hectares are covered by a meter-thick layer of lava, 228.09 hectares of which are cultivated (128 hectares of banana plantations, 52 vineyards and 19 of avocados).

Volcanic eruption on Canary Island La Palma

© Kike Rincón / dpa

Scientists still consider it uncertain whether the lava will reach the sea on Tuesday night with the current flow and speed. What is certain is that sooner or later the mass will reach the Atlantic and form a new headland. The main stream has been pouring into the sea for a good two weeks, creating a new headland that was already more than 36 hectares in size on Monday. Around 50 soccer fields fit on it.

Volcanic eruption on La Palma

The volcano on the Cumbre Vieja (1,949 meters) on the Canary Island of La Palma erupted on September 19, 2021 for the first time in 50 years.
Huge lava flows have now destroyed more than 1,800 buildings and almost 790 hectares of land.
The Canaries, which also include the popular holiday islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote, are of volcanic origin. The Cumbre Vieja was considered a dormant volcano.

Volcano on La Palma: No air traffic on the weekend

On Monday, meanwhile, flight operations on La Palma were resumed after a two-day interruption. But only for a few hours. The airline Binter had to cancel the last four planned flights because of ash on the runway. The island’s airport remained operational over the weekend, but the volcanic ash increased dangerously. Airlines like Binter canceled flights.

Volcanic eruption on La Palma – children with masks and goggles in school

Despite the difficult situation on La Palma, the island tries to keep some normality. For more than a month, children in one of the hardest hit areas in the Aridane Valley have been back to school for the first time. The start for the more than 4,500 students and 600 teachers took place under difficult conditions – in the ash rain, according to local media. They were kind of locked in their classrooms. Because of the poor air quality, windows and doors had to remain closed. Breaks in the school yard are taboo. When leaving class, the children had to wear FFP2 masks, goggles and hats with visors. It is unclear when the volcano will come to rest. Once the volcano took an eerie pause. (ml) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

Rubriklistenbild: © Kike Rincón / dpa

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