Video shows the incredible speed of the “lava tsunami” as it flows from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Canary Island of La Palma.
Officials from the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute have described it as a lava tsunami traveling at an amazing speed.
The following written content from Aristos Georgiou
The volcano, which is located in the Canary Islands archipelago off the coast of northwest Africa, has been erupting since September 19, with lava flows causing widespread destruction on La Palma.
In total, more than 7,000 people have had to flee their homes on the island, which has a population of around 85,000, as a result of the ongoing eruptions, local government figures show. Around 1,200 of those people have had to evacuate since Tuesday alone.
On Saturday last week, part of the volcano’s cone partially collapsed, after which there was a spike in lava flows and explosive activity.
So much molten rock was spewing out of Cumbre Vieja’s volcanic cone on Thursday that at around 2:15 p.m. local time a huge overflow could be seen, as shown in the video below that was shared by Involcan.
Officials say there is no end in sight to the eruptions, which have devastated nearly 700 hectares of land, local government figures show, while also destroying or partially damaging around 1,500 buildings.
Despite the devastation, no human injuries or deaths have been reported and much of the island has been unaffected, the Associated Press reported.
See: Lava footage deluge – Hawaii & Canary Island
In the days preceding the eruption in September, scientists recorded numerous earthquakes, and the seismic activity has continued almost constantly since then.
On Friday, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck the island, the Spanish National Geographic Institute said, just a day after a tremor of the same strength was recorded.
Earlier this week, the Cabildo de La Palma released video footage showing dogs trapped by lava on La Palma that are being kept alive with the help of drones.
The local government said two companies had been feeding the animals for the past five days using drones to deliver them food and water. Read more from Newsweek
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