Lava Soars Hundreds of Meters, 10,000 Residents Evacuate... Over 6,600 Earthquakes Occur Before Explosion
Prime Minister Cancels UN General Assembly Attendance Schedule
[Asia Economy International Department Reporter] A volcano erupted on La Palma Island in the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory in western North Africa, for the first time in 50 years, causing up to 10,000 residents to evacuate.
According to foreign media, the volcano in the 'Cabeza de Vaca' area of Cumbre Vieja National Park on La Palma Island erupted at around 3:15 PM local time on the 19th. Lava shot up hundreds of meters high from the vent and flowed down the mountainside in three large streams, foreign media reported. No casualties were confirmed by that night.
Frequent earthquakes in Cumbre Vieja recently had made a volcanic eruption expected. According to the Spanish National Geographic Institute (IGN), since the 11th, more than 6,600 small earthquakes occurred, including three earthquakes strong enough for residents to feel. On the day of the eruption, 327 earthquakes occurred, including a magnitude 4.2 quake.
Evacuation orders were issued for four villages including El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane, and authorities said they evacuated between 5,000 and 10,000 residents. The population of La Palma Island is about 80,000.
Cumbre Vieja previously erupted in 1971. At that time, one photographer who was filming the flowing lava died, causing casualties, but there was no property damage.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez canceled his schedule to attend the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and visited La Palma on the same day to discuss countermeasures with authorities.
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