Spanish authorities have evacuated about 5,000 people from villages on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands of Spain, as lava comes out of the volcano Kubre Vieha, which erupted yesterday Sunday.
The lava wave has already swallowed 20 houses in the village of El Paso as well as some roads, Mayor Sergio Rodrκεguez told TVE radio station this morning.
He is now heading to the neighboring village of Los Lianos de Aridane where hundreds of houses are in danger, he added. “We are monitoring the lava flow,” he explained.
Lava was shaken hundreds of meters from the volcano after Sunday’s eruption, as rivers of molten rock flowed into the Atlantic Ocean through an densely populated area of La Palma.
Local authorities have evacuated about 5,000 people from four villages, including El Paso and Los Lianos de Aridane.
According to Canary Islands President Angel Victor Torres, other residents would not need to be evicted. “The lava is moving towards the shores and the damage will be only material. “According to experts, there are about 17 to 20 new government lava measures,” he said.
So far no injuries have been reported and there will not be if everyone behaves prudently, commented volcanologist Nemesio Pereth.
Also today, the Binter airline of the Canary Islands announced that four responses are heard from and to the island of La Gomera due to volcanic ash and youth from the expression of the volcano on the neighboring island of La Palma.
La Palma was on alert after more than 22,000 tremors were recorded in one week from the Kubre Vieha volcano, which belongs to a chain of volcanoes that last erupted in 1971 and is the most volcanically active area in the Canary Islands.
In 1971 a man lost his life while taking pictures of lava, but there was no material damage.
The last eruption of a volcano in the Canary Islands took place in 2011, on the island of El Hierro and was underwater.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in La Palma last Sunday night to talk to the local government about managing the volcano’s exposure. “We have all the resources and human resources, the citizens can sleep peacefully,” he stressed.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ