A second lava flow could reach the sea on the volcanic Canary island of La Palma on Monday and form a new headland there. The Institute of Volcanology of the Spanish Region (Involcan) announced, on Sunday afternoon, that the hot mass of 1270 degrees Celsius is about 200 meters from the sea. The lava flow is flowing towards the sea slopes at a speed of 15 meters per hour.
The main stream has been pouring into the Atlantic Ocean for about two weeks, creating a new vertical area that was about 36 hectares on Sunday. About 50 football fields are suitable for it. La Palma will have to be remapped.
The affected area in the Cumbre Vieja mountain range in southern La Palma was once again hit by dozens of earthquakes on Sunday. Since, according to the authorities, tremors with a magnitude of 4.6 still occur at depths of more than 30 kilometers, they do not represent a great danger. However, according to experts, they indicate that the volcano will remain active for some time. “Maybe the end is not yet imminent,” the regional president of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, said on Sunday.
According to the operator Aina, the island’s airport was still operating on Sunday, but due to the volcanic ash that is dangerous to planes, airlines such as Pinter did not fly to La Palma on Sunday for the second day in a row.
Since the volcano became active again on September 19 for the first time in 50 years, the lava has completely destroyed more than 1,800 structures, according to the latest official information on Sunday. 754 hectares were covered with a meter thick layer of lava. This area corresponds to more than a thousand football fields. About 7,000 residents have had to be brought to safety since the volcano erupted.
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