Residents flee volcanic eruption on Spanish isle
LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, Spain — A volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma erupted Sunday after a weeklong buildup of seismic activity, prompting authorities to speed up evacuations for 1,000 people as lava flows crept toward isolated mountain homes.
The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute reported the eruption near the southern end of the island. Huge red plumes topped with black-and-white smoke shot out along the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, which scientists had been closely watching after days of small earthquakes and the accumulation of molten lava below the surface.
The island last saw such as eruption in 1971.
La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of eight islands in Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast.
A 4.2 magnitude quake was recorded before the volcanic eruption, which took place in an area known as Cabeza de Vaca on the western slope as the ridge descends to the coast.
One black lava flow with a burning tip was sliding toward houses in the village of El Paso. Mayor Sergio Rodriguez said 300 people in immediate danger had been evacuated and sent to the village’s soccer field. Roads were closed, and authorities urged people not to approach the area.
Mariano Hernandez, president of La Palma, said there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries but that the lava flows made him concerned “about the populated areas on the coast.” He said there were five eruption points, with two of them spewing magma.
“People should not come near the eruption site where the lava is flowing,” Hernandez said. “We are having serious problems with the evacuation because the roads are jammed with people who are trying to get close enough to see it.”
Itahiza Dominguez, head of seismology at Spain’s National Geology Institute, said on Canary Islands Television that although it was too early to tell how long this eruption would last, previous “eruptions on the Canary Islands lasted weeks or even months.”
The eruption on La Palma 50 years ago lasted just over three weeks. The most recent eruption on the archipelago occurred underwater off the coast of El Hierro island in 2011. It lasted five months.
The first hours of the current eruption led volcanologist Vicente Soler of Spain’s Higher Council to believe that it was not terribly violent.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez canceled his trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly so he could travel from Spain’s mainland to the Canary Islands.
Authorities on La Palma started to evacuate residents with reduced mobility to a military outpost shortly before ground broke open Sunday. Residents of five nearby villages were already on alert to leave their homes in case of an eruption.
The Scientific Committee of the Volcano Risk Prevention Plan said stronger earthquakes “are likely to be felt and may cause damage to buildings.” It also said part of the island’s southwest coast was at risk for landslides and rock falls.