A VOLCANO has erupted on La Palma in the Canary Islands after 1000 earthquakes were detected over the last few days.
As lava flows from the La Cumbre Vieja volcano, huge red plumes with black-and white smoke rose out. This forced hundreds of people to evacuate.
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Cumbre Vieja straddles a ridge in the south of La Palma island and has erupted twice in the 20th century, first in 1949 then again in 1971.
Following a week’s worth of seismic activity that saw around 1000 people evacuated from homes, the eruption took place.
The eruption was preceded by a 3.8 magnitude earthquake. Vibrations from seismic activity were also felt on the surface.
A black lava flow was moving towards El Paso with a burning tip.
Mayor Sergio Rodriguez said 300 people in immediate danger had been evacuated from their homes and sent to the El Paso’s football field.
Authorities advised anyone who was curious not to go near the site as roads were closed after the explosion.
La Palma, which has an 85,000 population, is one of eight Canary Islands islands in Spain.
Spain’s National Geographic Institute last week reported that 4,222 earthquakes were detected in an earthquake swarm, which scientists call an earthquake swarm. It occurred around La Palma since last Saturday.
An earthquake swarm can refer to a cluster of quakes that occur in a small area within a relatively short time. This could indicate an imminent eruption.
There have been nearly a thousand earthquakes since last Saturday.
Tuesday saw the Canary Island regional government place the island on a yellow alert in case of an eruption.
Itahiza Dominicuez, the head of seismology at Spain’s National Geology Institute, said that while it was too early for a prediction of how long the eruption would last, she believed it to be a good idea.
The Canary Islands’ last eruption was in 2011, which occurred off El Hierro island. This eruption lasted for five month.
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