La Palma volcano, updates: eruption, tsunami warning and news | Canary Islands | Summary 21 november
Cumbre Vieja volcano: latest updates
Headlines
- Cumbre Vieja rated at alert level 3
- First V-VI intensity earthquake recorded on La Palma
- New district with space for 543 houses proposed
- Cumbre Vieja eruption has been active for two months, having started on 19 September
- Largest earthquake since eruption began - magnitude 5.1 - registered on Friday morning
- Volunteer worker killed in exclusion zone while cleaning volcanic ash
- Surface area of lava flow now covers over 1,065 hectares
- More than 2,650 buildings have been damaged by the lava flow
- Delta formed in Atlantic Ocean by lava flows now covers over 40 hectares
- 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 eruption: related articles
La Palma airport to remain closed until runway is cleared of ash
Spain's Civil Aviation Authority (AENA) announced this morning that La Palma airport will remain closed and all flights to an from the airport have been cancelled until the runway is cleared of ash. A total of 22 flights scheduled at La Palma were cancelled on Sunday due to the large ash cloud blowing towards the east side of the island.
La Palma land area has increased by 43 hectares since erruption
The total land surface area on La Palma has increased by 43 hectares since Cumbre Vieja began errupting on 19 September. These images from Copernicus show how lava from the volcano has spread across terrain and formed new deltas on the coastline. A total of 2651 buildings have been destroyed by the lava flows during the past two months.
Thermographic images show lava streams
INVOLCA provided us with these thermographic images of the numerous active lava flows, taken at 7:00 pm on Sunday. The first two correspond to the one that runs south of La Laguna mountain. Officials said at the weekend that flows 4 and 7 are the ones which have been extending over the past few hours.
Updated 3D map of La Palma lava field
Pedro Suarez provided an updated 3D map of the lava flow spreading from Cumbre Vieja to the Atlantic Ocean on La Palma based on new images from Copernicus Emergency Management Systems space observations.
Drone footage of mist over lava fields
The Spanish Geological and Mining Institute has released this footage of the lava fields around Cumbre Vieja and the mist that forms over them due to the rain on La Palma and variables in the ground temperature.
Latest Copernicus update
The EU's Copernicus earth observatory has released an updated radar imaging map of the Cumbre Vieja eruption, showing that the new lava flows from the volcano have added 23.8 hectares to the total land coverage over the past five days, with 28 more buildings destroyed, taking the total to 2,651.
La Palma to host regional heads of Spain meeting
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez confirmed that the island would host the meeting of Spain's autonomous leaders in early 2022 as an attempt to boost the profile of the afflicted island.
19,921 highly sought after Christmas lottery number
The Spanish 'El Gordo' lottery takes place on 22 December and is the biggest lottery of the year with the draw being televised live on national tv. This year the number 19.921 is one of the highly sought after numbers with it marking the date the Cumbre Vieja volcano sparked into life with many lottery fans highly superstitious when it comes to key numbers (decimas) for their tickets.
The perils of playing on a volcanic island
Once again, the Cumbre Vieja volcano played havoc with La Palma based 2a RFEF soccer side CD Mensajero as they were unable to travel to Gran Canaria for Sunday's game against San Mateo with the airport in La Palma inoperative. The club looked at maritime options but with all options booked out, the only option was to postpone the match and look for new dates for the game.
La Palma airport resumes activity
AENA (Spain's airport authority) has confirmed that flights have resumed at La Palma airport but delays and cancellations are occurring due to the lingering ash cloud caused by the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
Governmental visit to La Palma
One of Spain's Vice-Presidents, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, is not long back from her massive efforts at COP26 in Glasgow, and went to see how things were doing in La Palma.
La Palma mornings
A stunning time-lapse video here taken this morning.
As should be fairly obvious, it shows the Cumbre Vieja and the volcanic ash plume casting its shadow beneath the clouds. Courtesy of Javier González Taño.
Volcano split screen
The videos shown side-by-side below give you an idea of the evolution of the eruptions that have taken place in the two main active zones on the island.
It begins from 1 October, a couple of weeks after the initial explosive start to this incredible situation.
Binter flights cancelled
Another update on the flight situation on La Palma.
As of 1:30 pm today, ash has forced the company to cancel all activity.
Cumbre Vieja evolution
The eruptions on La Palma are, as you'd imagine, being extremely closely monitored.
IGN have reported on the latest recent 52 earthquakes that have been felt today, fortunately with a low tremor level.
Volcano spotting
If you're the type of person that likes to see things as they happen, you'll want to keep an eye on the following feed.
Decrease in seismic activity
There was a significant decrease in seismic activity on La Palma on Sunday with just 18 minor tremors recorded - down from the 42 reported at the same time on Saturday and dramatically lower than the figures we saw last week.
The National Geographic Institute (IGN) recorded a magnitude 5 earthquake on La Palma on Friday morning, just south west of Villa de Mazo at 1:08 hours. The shockwaves were felt throughout the island, and also in Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro. Seismic activity on La Palma rose at the end of last week - the IGN recorded over 350 tremors in 24 hours on Thursday, the largest daily number since Cumbre Vieja began errupting back in mid-September
La Palma airport remains inoperative
La Palma airport will remain inoperative for the remainder of Sunday and until further notice due to the accumulation of ash both in the air and on the runways, AENA announced. Authorities have been working to clear as from the runways and advise travellers to check with their carriers for further information and updates on the situation.
Latest satellite images from Copernicus
Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation programme, released its latest satellite images of La Palma this morning, not much was visible of the island or Cumbre Vieja volcano, as the southern part of the island was completely under cloud cover.
Aerial drone footage of "fog sea" enveloping Cumbre Vieja
The Spanish Geological and Mining Institute have provided these drone images taken at altitude of the sea of fog which covers large part of Cumbre Vieja volcano. The volcano has been particular active during a wet and rainy weekend, in which it rose to alert level 3.
Cumbre Vieja hits alert level 3
Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma experienced a surge in activity at the weekend, with PEVOLCA technicians giving it an alert level rating of between 2 and 3. On the scale of 1 to 8, a volcanic alert level of 3 is classified as a minor erruption with the possibility of damage occurring to the cone, chamber and flanks.
To date, the volcano has emitted over 10 million cubic metres of gas, ash and tephra - but the erruptive mechanism has not changed, nor has it become more explosive.
Three lava streams remain active, spreading to new terrain between flows 4 and 7 where lava has advanced approximately 130 metres.
UME clean-up operation continues
This image shows the extent of the work which the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME) are having to deal with as part of the ongoing clean-up operation. The UME remove piles of ash every day as well as monitoring gas emissions in La Palma. Over 6,000 people have been evacuated from their homes since the volcano began errupting over two ago.
Where are most volcanoes located?
In this report, AS USA's Greg Heilman takes a look at how volcanoes are created, and where on planet Earth they are most likely to be found.
(Photo: Miguel Calero/EFE)
First V-VI intensity earthquake recorded on La Palma
Yesterday, La Palma recorded the first earthquake with an intensity of V-VI since Cumbre Vieja began errupting on 19 September. The event occurred at 10.19 hours in Villa de Mazo, with a magnitude of 4.6. On the The PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS), V-VI intensity is classified as "strong to very strong".
Plans to build new town "Cumbre Nueva" on La Palma proposed
One of the positives of the volcanic erruption on La Palma is that the island is now slightly larger than it was before 19 September. The platform for those who have been affected by the volcano presented their proposal for the creation of a new neighbourhood, just south of La Manchas. The new district, provisionally named Cumbre Nueva, will boast 543 eco-friendly sustainable houses on area measuring 400.000 m2 which will be built when the volcano ceases activity. It will also have other amenities, including a school, shopping centre, health centre, town square and a church.
New emission points expected to emerge on Cumbre Vieja
Technicians from PEVOLCA gave an update on the situation on La Palma and have not ruled out new emission points emerging on Cumbre Vieja volcano. Lava flows numbers 4 and 7 remain active and have been extending over new ground during the past 24 hours. Seismic activity has been constant and they add that there is a real possibility of a magnitude V or VI earth tremor.
5.1 magnitude tremor felt in Villa de Mazo
There has been daily tremors and minor earthquakes on the island of La Palma since Cumbre Vieja erupted on 19 September with the largest tremor taking place today in Villa de Mazo with the quake registering 5.1 on the Richter scale early on Thursday morning.
Lava advancing at 20 metres per hour
Worries on the island increase as a new lava flow has intensified and started to make its way towards homes and agricultural areas. PEVOLCA technicians explained that la flows numbers 4 and 7 are the only one which continue to spread while the others remain static for now.
Acid rain and gases stripping pine forests
Apart from the 1,050 hectares of land now covered by molten lava, La Palma's pine forests within a four kilometre radius from the volcano's cone have been seriously affected by the conditions they are in. CSIC scientists have explained that around 70% the trees have been stripped by acid rain and toxis gases. Much of the surrounding vegetation has also been affected - there has been a noticeable reduction of insects and birds, who play a key part in the island's ecosystem, which have deserted the exclusion zone in search of safety.
Cumbre Vieja eruption live updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live blog for Sunday 21 November 2021, bringing you the latest news, developments and information on the ongoing eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.