Lava from La Palma eruption finally reaches the Atlantic

By DANIEL ROCA and JOSEPH WILSON

LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, Canary Islands (AP) — A agleam reddish stream of lava from the volcano connected Spain’s La Palma land yet tumbled implicit a cliff and into the Atlantic Ocean, mounting disconnected immense plumes of steam and perchance toxic gases that forced section residents extracurricular the evacuation portion to stay indoors connected Wednesday.

The contiguous country had been evacuated for respective days arsenic authorities waited for the lava that began erupting Sept. 19 to traverse the 6½ kilometers (four miles) to the island’s edge. On the mode down from the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, the lava flows person engulfed astatine slightest 656 buildings, mostly homes and workplace buildings, successful its unstoppable march to the sea.

The gathering of molten stone and oversea h2o yet came astatine 11 p.m. connected Tuesday. By daybreak, a widening promontory of newborn onshore could beryllium seen forming nether plumes of steam rising precocious into the area.

Even though archetypal aerial prime speechmaking showed nary information successful the area, experts had warned that the accomplishment of the lava astatine the water would apt nutrient tiny explosions and merchandise toxic gases that could harm lungs. Authorities established a information perimeter of 3½ kilometers (about 2 miles) and asked residents successful the wider country to stay indoors with windows unopen to debar breathing successful immoderate gases.

No deaths oregon superior injuries person been reported from the island’s archetypal eruption successful 50 years, acknowledgment to the punctual evacuations of implicit 6,000 radical aft the crushed cracked unfastened pursuing weeks of tremors.

The flattening of the terrain arsenic it approached the seashore had slowed down the travel of the lava, causing it to widen retired and bash much harm to villages and farms. The section system is mostly based connected agriculture, supra each the cultivation of the Canary plantain.

Just earlier it poured down a cliff into the oversea astatine a section constituent known arsenic Los Guirres, the lava rolled implicit the coastal highway, cutting disconnected the past roadworthy successful the country that connects the land to respective villages.

“We anticipation that the transmission to the oversea that has opened stops the lava flow, which widened to scope 600 meters (2,000 feet) astatine 1 point, from continuing to grow, due to the fact that that has caused tremendous damage,” Ángel Víctor Torres, president of the Canary Islands determination government, told Cope radio.

Torres said his authorities is moving to location those who person mislaid their dwellings. Authorities person plans to acquisition implicit 100 presently unoccupied homes. Torres cited 1 village, Todoque, location to 1,400 people, which was wiped out.

La Palma, location to astir 85,000 people, is portion of the volcanic Canary Islands, an archipelago disconnected northwest Africa. The land is astir 35 kilometers (22 miles) agelong and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide astatine its broadest point.

Cleaning crews swept up ash successful the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, portion much tiny earthquakes that person rumbled nether the volcano for weeks were registered by geologists.

Favorable upwind conditions allowed the archetypal formation successful 5 days to onshore astatine airdrome connected La Palma, an important tourer destination on with its neighboring Canary islands, contempt a immense ash unreality that Spain’s National Geographic Institute said reached up to 7 kilometers (nearly 4½ miles) high.

Laura Garcés, the manager of Spain’s aerial navigation authorization ENAIRE, said she doesn’t foresee immoderate large problems for different airports connected the archipelago due to the fact that of the ash.

While the reddish lingua of lava lolled disconnected the coast, the 2 unfastened vents of the volcano continued to belch up much magma from below.

Experts accidental it’s intolerable excessively aboriginal to find however agelong the eruption volition last. Previous eruptions successful the archipelago person lasted weeks, adjacent months.

“We don’t cognize erstwhile this volition beryllium over,” volcano idiosyncratic Stavros Meletlidis of Spain’s National Geographic Institute told authorities broadcaster TVE. “Volcanos are not friends of statistics.”

___ Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.