Like the Energizer Bunny, the Cumbre Vieja Volcano Just Keeps Going

While earth scientists hope they may one day accurately predict volcanic eruptions, volcanology remains an inexact science. Case-in-point: the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, one of the Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco. After a 50-year lull, Cumbre

Vieja let loose in September 2021 with eruptions and earthquakes that continue to this day with no sign of waning.

What to do when a volcano you thought was dormant is not? Island residents not already evacuated, were urged to stay inside with doors and windows shut and to wear face masks and eye protection to guard against ash falling from the sky after rising as high as four miles and clouds of toxic steam laced with acidic gases were produced when red-hot lava hit ice-cold Atlantic waters. Recent photos have shown homes partially buried by falling ash fall and homes destroyed by the lava flow.

Per a recent article in the journal Science, Cumbre Vieja “requires rethinking about forecasting and hazards” when it comes to volcanos many thought were dormant. Some events, you just can’t predict or control. As the Canary Islands regional president Ángel Victor Torres said, “We’re in nature’s hands.”