La Palma volcano | news summary for Saturday 13 November
Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption: live updates
Headlines:
- Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption now in its eighth week, after beginning on 19 September
- Surface area of lava flow now covers over 1,000 hectares
- More than 1,400 buildings have been severely damaged by the lava flow
- New lava headland formed off Los Guirres beach, next to original delta
- Around 7,000 of the island's 85,000 residents have been evacuated
Useful information
- AS speaks to expert in volcanology about the effects of lava reaching the sea
- The lowdown on the active volcanoes on the Canary Islands
- Where are most volcanoes found on Earth?
La Palma volcanic eruption: related articles
Dept of National Security update on lava flow
According to an update released by Spain's Department of National Security early on Sunday, the lava flowing from the erupting Cumbre Vieja volcano now covers a surface area of 1,018.67 hectares.
Volcano smoulders on La Palma
New footage has been released by Spain's Guardia Civil, showing areas of the island of La Palma smoulders with lava still visible from a distance. There had been some suggestion in recent days that the volcano was losing intensity, but it remains active for now and thousands of locals are still unable to return to their homes.
Casado makes second La Palma visit
The leader of Spain's leading opposition party, PP, made his second visit to the stricken island of La Palma to witness close at hand the level destruction following the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupting in September. The politician availed of the visit to demand that fincial aid be adminsitedred as soon as possible to help boost the local economy.
CB Canarias x La Palma shirt on sale
CB Canarias, the major Tenerife based professional basketball team on the islands have put their distinctive yellow 'Todos con La Palma' t-shirt on sale via the club's official online store with all money generated via sales of the shirt going towards the La Palma relief fund.
The t-shirts can be purchased for ten euro here
Cumbre Vieja in numbers
Since the Cumbre Vieja volcano first became active on 19 September, more than 7,000 residents of La Palma have been forced to evacuate their home. Over 1,400 buildings have been severely damaged by lava of which 1,179 are domestic homes.
'Volcano undergoing period of stability'
Head of local Canary Island Volcanic emergency group, Rubén Fernández, affirmed on Saturday that the general consensus among experts is that the volcano is going through a 'stability phase'.
840 earth tremors since 19 September
The Cumbre Vieja volcano first became active almost 2 months ago with the small Canary Island of La Palma becoming a global talking point on 19 September when the volcano first erupted. Since that date, the island has experienced over 840 minor earthquakes and tremors as the Cumbre Vieja still shows no sign of letting up.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption as seen on Thursday on La Palma. The volcano has been erupting since September 19, 2021 after weeks of seismic activity, resulting in millions of euros' worth of damage to properties and businesses and the evacuation of 7,000 people.
Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Cumbre Vieja still simmering
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded on La Palma earlier on Saturday and this footage from the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute shows that the volcano remains very active despite hopes that the eruption may be petering out.
La Palma eruption: Cumbre Vieja volcano claims life of volunteer
Almost two months after it first erupted, the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma has claimed its first victim.
According to reports from Spanish news wire EFE, a 70-year-old man was killed while working as a volunteer cleaning up volcanic ash when the roof of the building he was on collapsed. The vast amounts of ash – which consists of fragments of volcanic rock and glass – being emitted from Cumbre Vieja has been carpeting buildings across La Palma, leading the Spanish government to mobilize military personnel to help with the clean-up.
The volunteer, who had the necessary authorization from the Island Council of La Palma to carry out the work on other properties, was on the roof of his own home in the neighbourhood of Corazoncillo on Friday when the accident occurred.
Lava reaches sea
Lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma reached the sea over the past week for the second time in less than two months.
DW - The Spanish government had pledged over €250 million to help the island's inhabitants and finance new houses, infrastructure and compensation payments for businesses. But the funds have been slow to arrive.
So far, the regional government has been able to invest only a fraction of the promised money, for example, in housing for evacuees or to provide them with psychological support. Some funds have also gone into setting up new irrigation systems for some banana plantations that are cut off from the water supply.
However, many of the island's residents complain that they have received hardly any of the financial aid so far because its distribution has been excessively bureaucratic.
Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to erupt above a church spire in the town of El Paso on November 12, 2021 in La Palma, Spain.
The volcano has been erupting since September 19, 2021, after weeks of seismic activity, resulting in millions of Euros worth of damage to properties and businesses, as the lava flowed down the mountainside towards the sea.
Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
La Palma residents worried as jobs dry up and state aid is slow to arrive
After 20 years in La Palma, Leonardo Rodríguez is packing his bags and preparing to bid goodbye to his home. It won't be easy. Together with his partner and their two cats, the chef plans to start a new life at the end of the month on the Spanish mainland in Granada.
Rodríguez has already been promised a job there. The pizzeria in Jedey, where he'd been working so far, has been shuttered for weeks. It's located directly at the foot of the Cumbre Vieja volcano. The house he had rented is also there.
But Rodríguez can no longer go there, since authorities have evacuated the area within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius and access is forbidden. The lava is too close.
La Palma volcano on Saturday
Images from a guardia civil patrol boat at 12:45 (Canarian time) on Saturday. The reactivation of one of the southern lava flows is observed.
Magnitude 5.0 earthquake on La Palma
According to Spain's National Seismic Network, an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale was registered on La Palma earlier today - the strongest of a number to have occurred on the island throughout the morning.
Over 2,600 buildings destroyed
According to the Copernicus Earth observation programme's most recent update, provided late on Friday, 2,616 buildings on La Palma have now been destroyed by the Cumbre Vieja lava flow.
While Spain's Department of National Security measures the surface area covered by the lava flow at 1,009.43 hectares (see earlier post), Copernicus puts its size slightly higher, at 1,108.9 hectares.
Workers clear volcanic ash from a churchyard on Friday as the Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to erupt on La Palma
(Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption: live video
We have a live video stream of the ongoing volcanic eruption on La Palma:
Dept of National Security update on lava flow
Per an update issued by Spain’s Department of National Security today, the lava flowing from the erupting volcano now covers a surface area of 1,009.43 hectares.
Video: Saturday morning view of erupting volcano
Earlier today, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute (Involcan) published this video of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, taken from El Paso, La Palma, at first light:
Cumbre Vieja eruption live updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live blog for Saturday 13 November 2021, bringing you the latest news and information on the ongoing eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.