Lava yesterday continued to flow slowly from a volcano that erupted in Spain’s Canary Islands off northwest Africa, but the head of the regional government said he expected no injuries to people in the area after about 5,000 were evacuated.
Lava was flowing on the island of La Palma toward the sea, moving at 700 meters per hour, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute said.
The lava was moving in two streams through a mostly unpopulated area, Canary Islands President Angel Victor Torres told SER radio.
Photo: AFP
About 20 isolated houses were destroyed, SER reported.
“We’re not expecting any other eruption,” Torres said, adding that air traffic in the area was not affected.
“There will be considerable material damage,” he said. “We hope there won’t be any personal injuries.”
People on La Palma largely live from farming.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to visit the affected area yesterday after canceling his trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly.
The volcano erupted on Sunday after a week-long buildup of seismic activity that was closely monitored by authorities.
The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute reported the initial eruption shortly after 3pm near the southern end of the island, which saw its last eruption in 1971.
Huge red plumes topped with black-and-white smoke shot out along the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, which scientists had been monitoring following the accumulation of molten lava below the surface and days of small earthquakes.
Most of those evacuated found family or friends to take them in, while the rest were in shelters, officials said.
La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of eight volcanic islands in Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast. At their nearest point, the islands are 100km from Morocco.
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