MADRID, Oct 21 (NNN-Xinhua) — The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma, Spain, entered into the second month on Tuesday, with experts warning that it is likely to continue spewing lava in the “short and medium term.”
Over 7,000 people from a total population of 85,000 have been evacuated from their homes since the start of the eruption on Sept 19, after a “swarm” of earthquakes had affected the island in the Canary Island archipelago.
During its 31-day eruption, the volcano ejected 80 million cubic meters of lava covering over 800 hectares of land on the island that has a surface area of just 708.32 square km.
On its route to the coast, the lava has split into four different channels and has destroyed almost 300 hectares of agricultural land, including 52 hectares of vineyards and 128 dedicated to banana plantations — the island’s main crop. Almost 2,000 buildings have been destroyed.
One of the flows has reached the sea and created around 40 hectares of new land while a second flow is expected to reach the ocean “in a matter of hours.”
“We are doing everything that is humanly possible, almost the impossible, to limit the damage,” said on Wednesday Angel Victor Torres, the Canary Islands regional president, as lava moved through the municipality of La Laguna.
Meanwhile the island continues to be shaken by constant earthquakes of which over 35,000 have been measured since the start of the event, with the strongest measuring 4.8 on the Richter Scale.
An unprecedented drone operation was carried out Wednesday to rescue stranded dogs. — NNN-XINHUA
