La Palma volcano eruption news summary: 30 October 2021
La Palma volcano eruption: live updates
Headlines
- Spanish officials confirm the destruction of 2,532 buildings in La Palma.
- Volcano reaches end of its sixth week of activity, having begun on 19 September
- Spanish government to provide further €70 million among its support measures
- New lava flowing into previously formed 'lava tunnels'
- Local council president suggests bombing the lava flows from Cumbre Vieja
- CBS News published incorrect graphic suggesting La Palma, an island, was on mainland Spain.
- Concerns about La Palma air quality after main cone collapse
- Over 35,000 earthquakes and tremors recorded in La Palma over the past month
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?
Cumbre Vieja eruption: live video
La Palma volcano "should be bombed" to divert lava flow
With no end to the destruction in La Palma, some "innovative" ideas have been thrown around in an attempt to bring the crisis to an end.
There is little the emergency services can do to stop or divert the path of the lava, leading the president of the La Gomera Municipal Council, Casimiro Curbelo, to suggest a drastic strategy: using military aircraft to bomb the flows in an attempt to stop them in their tracks.
Read our full coverage for the response from other experts on the idea to bomb the volcano.
Ash covers signigicant parts of La Palma
The Spanish military is working to remove as much ash from communities as it accumulates quickly on the island. In towns and villages that have avoided complete destruction, ash removal efforts are ongoing to avoid the collapse of houses and other structures -- showing just how much ash has piled up around the island.
How many structures have been destroyed by the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma?
Spanish authorities reported today that in the last six weeks 2,532 buildings have been destroyed. With activity picking up on the island and no sign that the erruption will end soon, this number could continue to rise.
Time lapse video shows lava spread
The video showcases the spread of lava from the active Cumbre Viejo volcano that has been active for six weeks now with experts unable to see any short term let-up to its activity.
Ash driving hazard
The local La Palma government advise drives to take added precaution on the roads of the island as the volcanic ash can create a hazard with tires failing to secure the same traction on roads with ash covering.
Grande-Marlaska to visit island on Monday
Spain's Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, will travel to the stricken island on Monday and will be accompanied by governmental colleagues Isabel Goicoechea and, Leonardo Marcos
Visit La Palma offer volcano alternatives
The official tourist board for 'La Isla Bonita' as La Palma is affectionately known offer tourists alternatives to Cumbre Vieja watching with the island home to a host of natural treasures despite the global focus on the active volcano.
Ash covers much of La Palma
Ash which has been expelled by the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma now covers many areas close to the active volcano which is set to enter it's sixth week of activity on Sunday.
La Palma solidarity t-shirt launched
Spanish high street fashion chain Cortefiel has launched a special commemorative La Palma t-shirt with money from the sale of the shirt going towards the relief campaign for the stricken island. The shirt was designed by Catalan comedian Andreu Buenafuente and can be purchased here for 20 euro.
Biggest earthquake to date rocks La Palma
Since the beginning of the Cumbre Vieja eruption on 19 Sept. the island has felt hundreds of quakes and tremors but nothing compared to that felt at 06:24 (local time) on Saturday as a quake registering 5 on the Richter scale rocked the stricken island.
Masters students visit volcano site
As well as some of the tourism that we've reported on, the volcano site has also proved to have an education benefit.
Here you can see risk management students from La Palma University getting the lowdown from the area.
Ash cover on La Palma
Photographer Emilio Morenatti shares his latest snap showing houses covered by the ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
Imagine trying to sleep in the glare of an erupting volcano, rattled by its tremors.
Then imagine trying to do that in a cramped caravan, after your home was surrounded by lava or buried beneath it.
This is the upturned reality for around 20 families, bedding down for another night in a back street in Los Llanos. They are just outside the exclusion zone on La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands.
They are the homeless of the six-week-old eruption, who cannot even dream of going home without being woken by the volcano's tremors and rumble.
Dan Johnson reports for the BBC from La Palma.
La Palma's volcano tourism
Olga Reinoso took advantage of the All Saints Day public holiday to see the erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma but like other tourists she wanted to help islanders whose homes have been destroyed and crops ruined.
Tourists were keen to help La Palma by spending money to boost the island's economy.
"In a passive way, our way to help is to come here to visit the volcano, which is something unique, but we contribute with money by spending money at hotel, restaurants, car rental,” Reinoso, who is from the nearby island of Fuerteventura, told Reuters.
The Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) has restricted access to the roads near the Cumbre Vieja volcano so that security and emergency teams can operate as visitors arrive for the All Saints' Day weekend.
However, as we reported earlier, Pevolca has set up a free bus service so people can access the volcano area from a safe distance.
€70 million in La Palma support
The Spanish government has confirmed the additional support that is heading the way of La Palma, with part of that to include 70 million euros in funding.
80 French boats near La Palma volcano
The waters around the island have hosted the first stage of the Mini Transat Eurochef, a regatta involving around 80 boats that have spent almost a month on the island competing in the race. This is a sample of the normality that most of the island has enjoyed.
The Real Club Nautico de La Palma (RCNLP) organized the reception of the fleet during the first stop of the regatta, which departed from Les Sables d'Olonne (France) and then left on Friday from the Isla Bonita in the direction of the island of Guadeloupe.
Fire service accompany La Palma returners
Along with the clean up work that they are carrying out, the fire service personnel have been accompanying locals as they return to their homes to collect important belongings in 'at risk' spots near where the lava has flowed.
Free tourist buses to La Palma volcano
In the first week of the eruption, one Spanish politician was condemned for suggesting that the volcano could be good for the tourism industry that has been hit hard due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Well, today La Palma's local council and Pevolca launched a transportation plan with free shuttle buses for all those who wish to visit the volcanic area. This initiative is actually to avoid the potential problems that could be seen in the surrounding roads as a massive influx of tourists is expected across the long holiday weekend in Spain.
The buses will cover the route between the old airport of Buenavista (in Breña Baja) and the Tajuya square (in the municipality of El Paso) every 20 minutes.
Emergency services saving La Palma
It has been a busy few weeks for the various emergency services, as well as everyone else helping the cause, ever since the Cumbre Vieja decided to erupt.
Here you can see the fire vans heading in.
Cabildo devotes "more than half a million euros" in aid
The Cabildo de La Palma, the island’s local government, says it is devoting “more than half a million euros” in financial aid to inhabitants affected by the Cumbre Vieja eruption, explaining in a statement that these relief funds are chiefly being invested in “the payment of deposits and rent on homes, and the purchase of household items, essentials and fuel”.
Spanish interior minister to visit La Palma next week
Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, is to travel to La Palma on Monday. Grande-Marlaska will visit the command centre of the Canary Islands' Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) and take part in the body’s status update meeting that day, scheduled for 12 noon local time.
(Photo: EFE/Emilio Naranjo)
"Lightning in the volcanic plume"
The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute (Involcan) has shared this striking image taken today:
Updated Copernicus figures
Copernicus, the EU's satellite observation programme, has released updated figures on the impact of the Cumbre Vieja eruption on La Palma. According to images taken at 8am on Friday local time (3am ET), the lava flow from the volcano now covers 946.5 hectares, and has destroyed 2,532 buildings on the island.
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME) on Friday, a UME member monitors the evolution of the lava flow, during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
(Photo by Luismi Ortiz / UME / AFP)
Tourists head to Spanish island of La Palma to see erupting volcano
Reuters - Olga Reinoso took advantage of the All Saints Day public holiday to see the erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma but like other tourists, she wanted to help islanders whose homes have been destroyed and crops ruined.
La Palma fundraising gala planned
The Council of Associations of Alcorcón has announced that a charity gala to raise funds for those affected in La Palma will take place on Sunday 7 November at the Buero Vallejo Theater, with performances by Diverplay, Momo and Speluznantes.
Tickets will cost either 5 of 10 euros, depending on the time of day and all proceeds will go to those affected by the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
Thermographic video of lava flow
The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute (Involcan) has shared this thermographic video of the Cumbre Vieja lava flow, noting that it reaches temperatures of 1,200 ºC.
Cumbre Vieja eruption sends lava streaming from collapsed cone
Following the collapse of part of the interior cone of the Cumbre Vieja volcano there has been a massive increase in the size of the lava lake and a swelling of the lava flows spilling down the side of the mountain.
Two of these, designated 1 and 4, are the largest and responsible for reconfiguring the island, contributing to the large delta being formed in the Atlantic.
These images captured by the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute a day before the partial interior cone collapse show the extent of the lava now flowing from Cumbre Vieja. Experts have not yet given any indication when the eruption may stop, but have warned that it is not likely to be any time soon.
Click on the image/title above to watch.
Hello and welcome to our live blog for Saturday 30 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.