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About two weeks ago a volcano erupted on La Palma. The leaked lava destroyed many houses. At least the air quality seems to be improving.
Santa Cruz de La Palma – ash, smoke, lava, boulders – the volcanic eruption on the Canary Island of La Palma has been providing spectacular images for almost two weeks. It is the first eruption of the nameless volcano since 1971. Even experts cannot say how long it will remain active. It could take weeks or months. After all, around 3800 residents of areas directly affected are now allowed to leave their homes.
Volcanic eruption on La Palma: curfews lifted
The curfews that were imposed on the towns of Los Llanos, Tazacorte and El Paso in the south of La Palma have been lifted since Saturday (October 2nd). The state television broadcaster reported RTVE citing the competent authorities of the Spanish island. The air quality has therefore improved considerably.
Meanwhile, a new chimney was built on Saturday at the volcano in the Cumbre Vieja ridge. However, there is still no evidence that areas that have previously been spared from the lava flows are in danger, said the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan). According to official reports, more than a thousand buildings have been destroyed by the lava, which has a temperature of around 1000 degrees. Including meanwhile also the “miracle house” of La Palma. Around 6,000 residents in several villages were evacuated. “Here you can see a lot of people crying all the time,” said an older man RTVE.
Volcanic eruption on La Palma: More than 3300 hectares affected by ash rain
The area that is covered on La Palma with a black, meter-thick layer of lava has now been corrected by the European Copernicus earth surveillance system to a good 367 hectares. On Friday (October 1st) there was talk of 709 hectares. According to the latest official information, more than 3,300 hectares are affected by the dark ash rain. That corresponds roughly to the area of a total of 4500 soccer fields.
The island of La Palma is less known to tourists than other Canary Islands such as Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura or Lanzarote. On Tuesday, it was declared a disaster area after the volcanic eruption. According to estimates by the regional government, the damage already amounts to several hundred million euros. Banana cultivation, which is immensely important for the island, is particularly hard hit. About half of the approximately 85,000 inhabitants live directly or indirectly from it. The industry was already in crisis before the volcanic eruption. (ph / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Daniel Roca