By Chris King • Published: 17 Oct 2021 • 21:24
Sulphur dioxide cloud from La Palma reaches Galicia and Portugal. image: twitter @involcan
As reported this Sunday, October 17, by Involcan, the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands, the latest lava stream from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island La Palma is just 200 metres from clifftops, where it could fall into the ocean.
According to the information on their social networks, the stream – which is travelling further north than the original ones – has slowed to a speed of 15 metres per hour. The temperature of this stream has been recorded as being around 1,270 degrees, and contains the greatest load of the current volcanic flows,
If it makes the final few hundred metres and falls into the ocean, this magma will form another new strip, although this will depend on the orography of the area, and what its final trajectory is.
In anticipation of this latest event, residents of the immediate vicinity are being asked to evacuate their homes, as a civil protection measure. Miguel Angel Morcuende, the technical director of Pevolca, the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan, recommended this action. He reported that there could be small explosions and hydrochloric acid detachments once this volcanic material enters the water.
Mr Morcuende added that although it seems that it has slowed down, the flow has “an enormous contribution of energy”, and there is “the certain possibility of it reaching the sea”, as reported by laprovincia.es.
El frente de colada que se mueve hacia el mar lo hace a 15 m/h y a 1270°C. Se encuentra a 200 metros del acantilado a las 12,15 hora canaria / The lava front that moves to the sea does so at 15 m/h & 1270 ° C. It is located 200 meters from the cliff at 12:15 Canarian time pic.twitter.com/i3pDLikbfq — INVOLCAN (@involcan) October 17, 2021
El frente de colada que se mueve hacia el mar lo hace a 15 m/h y a 1270°C. Se encuentra a 200 metros del acantilado a las 12,15 hora canaria / The lava front that moves to the sea does so at 15 m/h & 1270 ° C. It is located 200 meters from the cliff at 12:15 Canarian time pic.twitter.com/i3pDLikbfq
— INVOLCAN (@involcan) October 17, 2021
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Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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