La Palma volcano: summary news, 22 October
La Palma volcano: live updates
Headlines
- Volcanic activity enters 33rd day on Friday, having begun on 19 September
- Rain forecasted for Saturday carries a further risk to residents and buildings
- Stranded dogs rescued by mysterious A-Team
- More than 600 tremors were registered in La Palma in the last week, according to Spain's Instituto Geográfico Nacional
- Strongest earthquake registered on Tuesday night, 4.8 magnitude
- Lava flow now covers surface area of 886 hectares according to Copernicus radar imaging, with 2,185 buildings destroyed
- 35,000 earthquakes and tremors recorded in La Palma during the past month
- Nearly 2,000 buildings destroyed by lava flow
- Cumbre Vieja eruption the "most significant since 1585", according to Copernicus
- No short or medium term end to eruption claim experts, as more La Palma residents forced to evacuate
- Delta has claimed around 40 hectares of new land from the Atlantic
Useful information
- Volcanologist speaks to AS about the effects of lava reaching the sea
- An overview of the active volcanoes on the Canary Islands
- When was the last volcanic eruption on the Canary Islands?
Another spectacular image of Friday evening's erruption, courtesy of the Spanish Geology and Mining Institute.
Footage of erruption from Friday evening
INVOLCAN published a video of the erruption shot from Tacande at 8pm on Friday.
Lava flow on northern face of Cumbre Vieja has stopped
PEVOLCA Technical Director Miguel Ángel Morcuende gave an update on the present situation with Cumbre Vieja on La Palma. "The lava flows on the northern side of the volcano, which we have been referring to as lava flow number 8 is currently stable and stopped moving yesterday in the zone neat to the school and chutch in La Laguna"
More La Palma residents forced to flee
The Cumbre Vieja volcano has been active on the Spanish island of La Palma for more than a month now and there is little sign of it stopping. The advancing streams of lava have forced residents from the town of Los Llano to evacuate the area and experts warn that there is no end in sight.
Tracking the lava flow
Because there's still not a lot of natural light in the early hours of the day, the most active lava channels (bright yellow and orange) can be clearly distinguished from the rest of the area occupied by the successive lava flows, which are colder and characterized by darker tones.
These cold lava flows have been piling up, overlapping and merging to form this lava field that has covered over buildings and other aspects on the island.
Cumbre Vieja is global news
The story surrounding the volcanic eruption on La Palma has captured the imagination and concern of the world, with reporters from across the globe being sent to the Spanish island to provide real-time updates.
Here, foreign correspondent for CBS News, Roxana Saberi, provides her update.
La Palma braced for additional rain risk
The fact that rain is expected on La Palma poses a risk that would not have been there before the Cumbre Vieja eruption.
Due to the impermeability of the rock that has been created from the lava flows, rainfall on the island can lead to run-offs, that is water flowing fast and freely over the surface of a terrain. This is the latest concern of the Department of Homeland Security and a warning was given to local residents by the technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Angel Morcuende.
Although not a great deal of rain is expected at the moment, Morcuende's advice to residents was to ensure that the roofs of the buildings are clean before the rain begins, in order to avoid "an immediate rise in the weight of the ashes" on them.
The emergency is especially focused on the municipality of Tazacorte, one of the towns most damaged by the eruption, since the rain forecast for tomorrow, Saturday 23 October, is 95%, according to the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).
Bananas latest to be rescued
From tomorrow, water will be available in the irrigation networks so that the La Palma Island Water Board can distribute it to farmers affected by the volcano.
Alonso's tribute helmet
Following on from the last post, Fernando Alonso was earlier showing off his new helmet in tribute to those affected by the volcanic activity in La Palma.
F1's Alonso joins fundraising
World renowned Formula 1 racing driver Fernando Alonso has taken to Twitter this afternoon to remind people both in and outside of his homeland, Spain, how they can contribute to La Palma's cause.
Transvulcanica race goody bag to go on auction
The annual Transvulcanica race which was held in the month of October each year on La Palma, was for obvious reasons cancelled this year. However, the organizing company have decided to put the race bags containing commemorative shirts, shorts and visors up for auction and donate all money generated towards the La Palma rebuilding effort.
Each year over 2,000 athletes from all corners of the world flock to La Palma to participate in the ultra-marathon race running across volcanic rock.
El Puerto school in Tazacorte set to re-open doors on Monday
The elementary and junior school will restart presential classes again next Monday after initially being forced top close following the Cumbre Vieja eruption back in September.
More than 40 earth tremors recorded on the south face of Cumbre Vieja last night
One of the earth tremors recorded overnight registered 4.2 and was felt on the island at 06.54 local time on Friday morning.
Lava now forms part of seabed
A video from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries shows how the lava from the volcano has now become a feature of the seabed in the sea adjacebnt to the island.
Cumbre Vieja destruction in numbers
Over 6,800 hectares of land on La Palma have now been covered in volcanis ash with over 850 hecatares of land covered in lava with more than 2,000 buildings having been affected by the eruption.
Spanish PM to visit La Palma again
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit the stricken Canary Island this weekend and offer his ongoing support to citizens with the visit marking his fifth to the island since the Cumbre Vieja eruption on 19 September.
Rain forecast causes concerns of torrential waters forming over lava
Rain has been forecast to hit the Canary Island of La Palma and this has raised concerns about torrents of water that could form over the water-resistant lava.
La Palma dog rescue revealed
Like a movie twist in Hollywood, the rescue of a hunter's podencos dogs - that had been trapped for almost a month by the eruption of the volcano of La Palma - was eventually undertaken.
A well-known drone company (see below) was already preparing their rescue but as the operation was put into action, they found that the animals were no longer there. A group of neighbours, calling themselves 'Team A', had taken them out of the affected zone.
"I can only confirm that the dogs are doing very well." a source confirmed to us, wishing to remain anonymous. But there was one exception.
"They found five podencos. One had passed away," the source confirmed.
La Laguna slowly being swallowed up
Footage here posted by The Weather Network shows "the relentless advance of red-hot magma continues to creep into the Spanish village of La Laguna, where around 7,500 people have been evacuated" since 19 September....
Volcanic ash covering 6,800 hectares in La Palma
According to the latest report from Copernicus, the volcanic ash is now covering some 6,800 hectares in La Palma, while the lava flow has so far covered 886 hectares.
In pictures: Priest Domingo Guerra leads a mass to pray for the Cumbre Vieja volcano to stop erupting at the Virgen del Pino (The Pine Virgin) chapel in El Paso, on the Canary Island of La Palma. (Photo: Reuters)
Spanish PM to return to La Palma on Saturday
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will make his fifth trip to La Palma since the start of the volcanic eruption on 19 September....
The extensive damage caused by volcanic ash on the ocean floor
While much of the damage caused above ground and in the air by the lava flow and volcanic ash have been well documented, we have not seen much of the damage that has been suffered on the ocean's floor. This video uploaded by El HuffPost shows the seabed and marine life covered in volcanic ash...
Second lava stream now 120 meters from the sea
A second lava stream originating from the Cumbre Vieja volcano is now just 120m from the sea. The first lava stream hit the Atlantic Ocean two weeks ago and has since formed new land covering more than 40 hectares on the La Palma coastline.
The technical director of the Canary Islands Volcano Emergency Plan (Pevolca), Miguel Ángel Morcuende, last night gave an update on the situation in La Palma volcano eruption.
As he indicated, the lava continues "to pass through the town of La Laguna slowly, but inexorably." Two streams have merged into one and it is moving towards "a crossroads where we do not yet know if it will take a northwest or southwest direction."
Reuters have shared this intriguing video of scientists taking samples of red-hot lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano....
Lava flow now covers 886 ha as 229 more buildings destroyed
According to the lastest figures collected by Copernicus EMS, the lava is now covering 886.1 hectares, with 2,185 buildings destroyed, an increase of 229 in 48 hours.
La Palma volcano eruption updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live blog for Friday 22 October 2021, bringing you the latest updates and information on the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.
Many believed it would be short-lived when the lava first began flowing way back on 19 September. As we now know, that prediction was a long way from what has transpired since.