FOR THE LAVA GOD, WILL NIGHTMARE NEVER END
Spain’s massive volcanic eruption on its island of La Palma in the Canaries is giving the European country growing pains.
Since the repeated eruptions began on September 19, the massive molten lava flow has reached the sea, creating a hardened delta that has expanded La Palma’s landmass by as much as 32ha, and counting.
Molten rock has spewed from the Cumbre Vieja volcano for more than a fortnight now, but over the weekend it was reported that the lava flows had intensified in both output and pace.
The eruption has destroyed at least 870 buildings so far and forced the evacuation of some 6000 people. And the ordeal is far from over. “It doesn’t look like it’s close to ending yet because of the millions of cubic metres of lava that the volcano is throwing out,” Canary Islands President Angel Victor Torres said.
Devastated evacuee Abel Armas, 64, said: “Everything I had is gone and I have been crying a lot.”
Stopped at a petrol station with his truckload of bananas, one of the island’s two main economic resources along with tourism, he said the lava had buried 40 years of his life.