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2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption

Coordinates: 28°36′53.63″N 17°52′7.47″W / 28.6148972°N 17.8687417°W / 28.6148972; -17.8687417
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2021 La Palma eruption
VolcanoCumbre Vieja
Start date19 September 2021[1]
End dateongoing
TypeFissure eruption
LocationLa Palma, Spain
28°36′53.63″N 17°52′7.47″W / 28.6148972°N 17.8687417°W / 28.6148972; -17.8687417
Cumbre Vieja is located in La Palma
Cumbre Vieja
Cumbre Vieja

The 2021 La Palma eruption is an ongoing fissure eruption of the volcano Cumbre Vieja, one of the most active volcanos in the Canary Islands, Spain, on the island of La Palma.

Earthquake swarm

An earthquake swarm started under Cumbre Vieja on 11 September 2021. It slowly migrated to the surface, with earthquakes up to around 3.5 on the Richter scale,[2] and over 22,000 recorded in the space of a week.[3] A yellow warning of potential volcanic activity was issued on 13 September, covering 35,000 people in the municipalities of Los Llanos de Aridane, Fuencaliente, El Paso and Villa de Mazo.[4] At least 40 individuals and some livestock on La Palma were evacuated by authorities due to this warning,[5] although no complete evacuation of the vicinity around the volcano has been declared.[5]

Eruption

The eruption began at 14:15 UTC on 19 September 2021 in a forested area[6][7] called Cabeza de Vaca[3] ("Cow's Head") in the Montaña Rajada mountains, in the Las Manchas section of the municipality of El Paso.[4][8]

Around 300 people from the local area were evacuated shortly after the eruption,[9] and around 700 people (including 500 tourists) from the Los Llanos de Aridane coastal region in case the lava flows to the sea and cuts off the main access roads. A total of around 5,000 people are expected to be evacuated from the area,[10] with estimates that as many as 10,000 might have to be evacuated.[6][11] The alert level was raised to its highest level—red—due to the eruption.[10]

The eruption takes place from at least five main (eruptive) vents.[12]

The Cabeza de Vaca area lies northwest of the two 1949 eruptive centers (Duraznero and San Juan). Eyewitness accounts (Bonnelli, 1950) and detailed mapping of the eruptive products showed that during the 1949 eruption, fault displacements also had westward components with downslope movement on the volcano's flanks.[13]

The last subaerial volcanic eruption in Spain, also on La Palma, was the 1971 Teneguía eruption, which resulted in one fatality of a photographer who got too close to the lava and was asphyxiated by the fumes, but it caused no material damage. The last volcanic eruption in Spain until the 2021 eruption, was the 2011–12 El Hierro eruption, which was a submarine eruption.[6]

On the fourth day of eruption, the volcano, according to the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands, experienced a more explosive phase, decreasing the amount of gases, but not more dangerous.[14]

Impact

Area covered by the lava river on Monday afternoon 20 September, by Copernicus.
Close-up view of the area covered by the lava river.

The lava flow reached nearby homes and as of 20 September, around two hundred houses have been destroyed by the flow, according to local authorities. No casualties were reported and flights continued into the islands.[6][15][16].

The rate of lava flow has gradually been slowing down the further away it got from the crater (120 metres per hour on 21/09/2021). At the current rate the lava flow is expected to reach the sea by 23-24/09/2021.

On the afternoon of 19 September, the Emergency Committee of the General Hospital of La Palma suspended all non-urgent surgeries, outpatient consultations and patient visits, with exceptions in the latter case, as a preventive measure to guarantee the hospital's capacity to attend in the event that it was required due to the eruption.[17] The activity returned to its ordinary organization the following day.[18]

On 20 September morning, the Canarian Ministry of Education ordered the suspension of the classes in the schools of the nearby municipalities of El Paso, Los Llanos de Aridane and Tazacorte.[19] That same day in the morning, direct flights to the island of La Gomera were suspended, but were restored a few hours later. The day before, the public company in charge of civil air navigation and civil airports in Spain ENAIRE, together with Eurocontrol activated the action procedure for volcanic ashes, but assured that the air traffic in the Canary Islands was not affected.[20]

In the early afternoon of 21 September, the lava reached the neighborhood of Todoque, in the municipality of Los Llanos de Aridane, with 1,200 inhabitants. At the end of that day, 185 buildings were destroyed, 400 hectares of arable land were burnt and 5,500 people were evacuated.[21] Los Campitos public school in Los Llanos de Aridane is among those affected, which was destroyed on Monday 20 September.[22]

Reactions

The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, went to the archipelago shortly after the eruption to see first-hand the situation on La Palma, the coordination of the system and the protocols activated, postponing a trip to New York to attend the Seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly.[23]

King Felipe VI, called the same afternoon of the eruption to the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, to inquire about the situation.[24] The following day during the opening ceremony of the university year in Córdoba, sent a message of support to "those who are suffering the evacuation of their homes" and thanked the emergency services for their work.[25]

The European Union, on 20 September, activated the Copernicus Programme to monitor the eruption and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, via Twitter, announced that "additional support, if necessary," would be made available to the Spanish government.[26]

The Bishop of Tenerife Bernardo Álvarez Afonso, celebrated a mass on 22 September at the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves in La Palma, together with the priests of the island, to pray for the end of the eruption.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Entra en erupción el volcán en La Palma". El País. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  2. ^ "LA PALMA UPDATE: The intensity of earthquakes has increased". Canarian Weekly. 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Lava shoots up from volcano on La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands". Reuters. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b Vega, Javier Salas, Guillermo (19 September 2021). "Volcano erupts on Canary Island of La Palma". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 19 September 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Borja Suarez. "People evacuated on Spanish island of La Palma after volcano eruption warning". Independent Online. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "Lava pours out of volcano on la Palma in Spain's Canary Islands". 19 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Spanish Canary Island volcano erupts after weeks of earthquakes". the Guardian. 19 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Máxima alerta en La Palma: Entra en erupción el volcán Cumbre Vieja de La Palma | Canariasenred - Noticias de Canarias" (in Spanish). 19 September 2021.
  9. ^ "La Palma island volcano erupts spewing lava, ash and pyroclastic debris, local evacuations begin". The Canary - News, Views & Sunshine. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b "La Palma | La lava sigue avanzando, última hora sobre la erupción del volcán en directo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Lava from volcanic eruption on Canary Island razes around a hundred homes". El País. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Explota una quinta boca de lava del volcán en La Palma en directo | Canariasenred - Noticias de Canarias" (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Global Volcanism Program | La Palma". Smithsonian Institution | Global Volcanism Program. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  14. ^ "El volcán de La Palma entra en una nueva fase más explosiva" (in Spanish). 21 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Canaries volcano streams slow down, homes destroyed, thousands flee". Reuters. 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  16. ^ "Lava from volcanic eruption on La Palma measures an average of six meters high and is flowing at 700 meters per hour". El País. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  17. ^ "El Hospital de La Palma reorganiza su actividad para garantizar la atención sanitaria ante la erupción". Europa Press. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  18. ^ "El Hospital de La Palma retoma este martes su actividad habitual". Europa Press. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Suspenden las clases en El Paso, Los Llanos de Aridane y Tazacorte" (in Spanish). 20 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Recuperados los vuelos a La Gomera que habían sido cancelados tras la erupción" (in Spanish). 20 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Volcán en La Palma, la erupción en directo. La lava sale por cuatro bocas, arrasa 185 edificaciones y "avanza inexorablemente hacia el mar"" (in Spanish). 21 September 2021.
  22. ^ "La lava del volcán de La Palma engulle el colegio público Los Campitos" (in Spanish). 20 September 2021.
  23. ^ "Sánchez pospone su viaje a Nueva York y viaja a La Palma para seguir la crisis de Cumbre Vieja". 19 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Sánchez pospone su viaje a Nueva York y viaja a La Palma para seguir la crisis de Cumbre Vieja". 19 September 2021.
  25. ^ "El Rey traslada su "ánimo" a los habitantes de La Palma y agradece la labor de los servicios de emergencia". 20 September 2021.
  26. ^ "La Unión Europea ofrece un "apoyo adicional" a La Palma por la erupción del volcán Cumbre Vieja" (in Spanish). 20 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Sacerdotes de La Palma y el obispo celebran una misa para pedir a su patrona que «cese la erupción del volcán»" (in Spanish). 22 September 2021.
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