Toxic Gas Fears As La Palma Volcano Lava Reaches Sea
Spain News
Published: 29 September 2021 17:47 CET
The lava from the erupting Cumbre Viejo volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma finally reached the ocean at 11 pm on Tuesday night. This comes after volcanologists spent a few unsettled days deliberating whether or not the speed of the flow would be strong enough to carry it to the coastline.
On Tuesday afternoon, the slow-flowing lava was still roughly 800 meters (half a mile) from the coast. But on Tuesday night, the Canary Islands Volcanic Institute (Involcan) posted on Twitter that, “The lava flow has reached the sea at Playa Nueva,” raising concerns of toxic gases being released as the molten magma hits the seawater.
The Spanish islands had earlier announced a two nautical mile exclusion zone around the area where the lava was expected to enter the Atlantic Ocean and advised residents to stay at least 3.5 kilometres away from the area.
The island of La Palma, with its 85,000 inhabitants, witnessed the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Sunday, September 19. Its spewing lava has since slowly made its way towards the ocean, passing its final stumbling block, the Todoque mountains.
Oceanographer Eugenio Fraile described the result as “a perfect golden pyramid surrounded by white clouds.”
On Monday, the residents of the coastal village of Tazacorte were advised to stay at home to avoid the harmful release of toxic gases that can occur when the 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) molten lava mixes with water.
Miguel Angel Morcuende, technical director of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) stressed that the islands residents were warned to stay home due to “the possibility that there will be a small shock when the magma enters the seawater, and that this small shock causes vapours which can be toxic.”
Volcanologists have warned that when the lava meets the seawater, explosions and a fragmentation of the molten rock like gunshots could materialise.
“Inhalation or contact with acid gases and liquids can irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory tract, and may cause breathing difficulties, especially in people with pre-existing respiratory diseases,” Involcan forewarned.
The last time the island saw the La Cumbre Viejo erupt was in 1949 and 1971 when sadly three people lost their lives, two of them from gas inhalation.
According to the European Union’s Copernicus Earth Observation Programme, more than 268 hectares of land and 656 buildings have been destroyed by molten rock. This has led to the Spanish government declaring the situation as ‘a state of natural disaster’.
Since the eruption, more than 6,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and thankfully no one has been injured or killed.
The lava flow has destroyed several roads and Angel Victor Torres, the Canaries regional head, last week estimated that the damage to land and property would easily exceed 400 million euros.
Air travel has also been affected as huge columns of smoke and ash rise several hundred meters high into the sky.
Friday saw the cancellation of domestic flights, with the airport being closed on Saturday.
The airport has since reopened but flights still remain suspended and experts estimate that the eruption could last for several more weeks, or possibly even months.
In the last few hours, the island of La Palma has also recorded a total of 29 earthquakes in different areas from Villa de Mazo to Fuencaliente or El Paso. The quakes have measured between 2 and 3.3 points of magnitude on the Richter scale.
Source
https://spanishnewstoday.com/la_palma_volcano_lava_finally_reaches_the_sea_1655246-a.html
https://www.thelocal.es/20210929/la-palma-volcano-lava-reaches-sea-raising-toxic-gas-fears/
Image Credit: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa
