New lava flow extends area affected by La Palma volcano

barcelonaCumbre Vieja continues its activity and the intensity of the eruption has increased again. Since the early hours of the morning, a new lava flow originated last night in the area of the secondary vent is now flowing towards the sea, parallel to the main flow. As the director of volcanic surveillance of the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute (Involcan), Luca De Auria, explained to Radio Canaria, this new lava flow is not very big but it is reaching areas that had not been affected by lava before. It is not clear whether it will eventually reach the sea.

The main flow has already arrived at the sea, and is causing large gas emissions due to the difference in temperatures between the magma and the sea, although it has not affected air quality. Even so, scientists from the Volcanic Emergency Plan of the Canary Islands yesterday asked the population to exercise extreme caution from today, when a change in wind direction is expected. Since Sunday there are four villages affected with a total of 600 residents, who are advised to take shelter indoors and protect themselves from gases, although no toxicity has been detected today.

In the municipality of Tazacorte, where the river of lava that reached the sea on Tuesday night flows into the sea, high values of sulphur dioxide have been measured punctually, exceeding the regulations on air quality and causing a stench similar to rotten eggs, a situation may affect other nearby points tomorrow.

The destruction is advancing at the pace of the river of lava, which has become much more fluid as the eruption has changed to a type closer to Hawaiian volcanoes. The latest update includes over 386 hectares that have been left under the magma, including those in the new delta. In the twelve days since the volcano erupted, 981 buildings have been affected, 855 of which have been completely destroyed, as have 27.4 kilometres of roads. This forces the residents of the areas close to the volcano to have to go around the island to go to nearby towns. In addition, according to the latest update of the Copernicus European Earth monitoring satellite system, the ash had spread over an area of 1,753 hectares.

The lava has already generated a fajana, a delta-shaped platform 500 meters wide formed by the lava's fall into the sea. The biological impact on the area is still unknown, and the magma has reached the sea in an area near the marine reserve of Fuencaliente.

As already happened with the banana plantations that surrounded the crater of the volcano, which have been covered, the impact on the ocean is causing concern among local fishermen. The president of the Regional Federation of Fishermen, David Pavón, says that the "situation is catastrophic" in the west of the island, because many of the fishermen have also lost their homes. It is the case of the head of the Tazacorte fishermen organisation, who was one of the first who was left with "nothing" because the volcano buried his house.

The fishermen will be unable to go out to sea at least until the eruption stops, and still do not know if the marine environment will be able to recover from the initial destruction. The lava has changed the acidity of the waters, which also contain more volcanic sulphur, making the sea a deep turquoise blue these days.

"The fishermen have been at a standstill for a long time because of a number of things, and this will continue for a long time. The fleet remains in the harbour, and will for some time," he says. He adds that many can't even face going out to sea as "they don't even have a house to change clothes in".