Tag Archives: La Palma

On Island of Sao Jorge experts are preparing for an eruption or major earthquake

Luke 21:11” There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Important Takeaways:

  • Experts Warn Quake-hit Azores Island Could See Volcanic Eruption Like Spain’s La Palma
  • The lush mid-Atlantic island has been rattled by more than 20,000 small earthquakes, which reached a magnitude of up to 3.3, in the past 11 days.
  • The tremors could herald a volcanic eruption for the first time since 1808, or a powerful earthquake
  • At a school in Velas, classes were suspended and some of the school’s rooms will be turned into a health center.
  • Workers with experience working in natural disasters have been deployed to the island.
  • Involcan, which monitored the La Palma eruption, said on Tuesday about 20 million cubic meters of lava could be spewed out on Sao Jorge if an eruption takes place.

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Muted Christmas joy in La Palma evacuees’ caravan as volcano falls silent

By Marco Trujillo

LA PALMA, Spain (Reuters) – Dacil Batista felt little Christmas cheer while trimming a plastic fir tree by the caravan where she, her family and pets have been living since the volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma forced them from their home.

“No matter how low you feel, at this time of the year you must be strong for the children because they are excited about Christmas,” said the 22-year-old mother of two.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano fell silent last week, raising hopes that the eruption that began on Sept. 19, which has forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, destroyed about 3,000 buildings and devastated crops, may be finally over.

Batista says the children have been missing their house and garden with swings, a slide and a playhouse.

“But we will go back home and they will have it all again,” she told Reuters after being shown a video of their property largely intact, but covered with tonnes of dark ash.

“A lot of people are much worse off than we are. We still have the house,” said Batista’s partner Adam Gonzalez, 27, who has mostly adjusted to caravan life after spending many sleepless nights there during the eruption.

He recalled how frequent tremors would rattle the vehicle, spooking the family and their many pets – a dog, a dozen birds, two turtles and a ball python.

“It’s been three months and now it’s difficult not to see it or hear it (the volcano), to know it happened but as if nothing ever happened,” he added.

Some residents have been allowed to return to their homes, but the parking lot where the family has their caravan is still full of mobile homes. The town hall of Los Llanos de Aridane has put a big Christmas tree above the car park to cheer up those who remain.

People have been quick to help each other out. A German neighbor gave the family another caravan, where Batista’s mother-in-law and her son are staying now, after learning that all six of them had been sharing one vehicle.

Barring any resumption of volcanic activity, the authorities could declare the end of the eruption this week.

(Writing by Andrei Khalip, editing by Nathan Allen and Jane Merriman)

Inside La Palma’s volcano: lull in activity allows look into crater

By Marco Trujillo

LA PALMA (Reuters) -The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma was silent for a second day on Wednesday, giving scientists the first chance to study the main crater from its brink as the eruption appeared to be nearing its end after three months.

A group of scientists collecting gas geochemistry data reached the crater at 1300 GMT, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute, Involcan, said, sharing the first footage of the interior of the volcano’s most active vent not taken by a drone.

La Palma volcano has been quiet since seismic activity all but stopped late on Monday. It is the longest period without tremors since the eruption began on Sept. 19.

Although scientists and monitoring systems detected no signs of volcanic activity, except for occasional and sporadic fumes, authorities warned the next few days would be crucial as it is not uncommon for volcanoes to resume expelling lava.

The eruption response committee said that in order to confirm that the eruption is finally over, “the recorded and observable data must remain at current levels for 10 days”.

“The best thing to do is not to give false hopes, for example in the 1949 eruption it stopped for several days, and several days later it got reactivated,” geologist Eumenio Ancoechea told Reuters.

The eruption, which sent rivers of molten rock down the slopes of Cumbre Vieja for weeks and expanded the size of the island by more than 48 hectares, is the longest on La Palma, according to records dating back to the 16th century.

Thousands of people have been evacuated, at least 2,910 buildings have been destroyed and the island’s main livelihood, banana plantations, have been devastated.

(Writing by Emma Pinedo, editing by Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson)

Spain’s La Palma lifts lockdown imposed after volcano soured air quality

By Marco Trujillo

LA PALMA, Spain (Reuters) – Authorities in Spain’s La Palma lifted a stay-at-home order on Monday just a few hours after telling people to stay indoors due to poor air quality caused by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

The eruption, which has sent spectacular rivers of molten lava running down the slopes of Cumbre Vieja for nearly three months, is the longest running on the Spanish Canary island since records began in 1500.

Around 24,500 residents in Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso and Tazacorte – a third of La Palma’s inhabitants – were asked to stay indoors due to emissions of sulphur dioxide that had reached “extremely adverse” levels, authorities said.

In affected municipalities, residents were told to stay inside, while students were told to remain in schools and parents not to pick them up until the air quality cleared.

However, a few hours later, emergency services lifted the order thanks to an improvement in air quality data and said students would leave school at the regular time.

“We’re all a bit scared,” said 64-year old Carlos Ramos in Los Llanos de Aridane, explaining that nothing similar had happened with previous eruptions on the island.

“We’ll see how it all ends because I don’t trust it (the volcano) and I’m not totally sure it’s ever going to end.”

Lava flows have damaged or destroyed at least 2,910 buildings, according to the EU satellite monitoring system Copernicus, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes on the island, part of the subtropical Canaries archipelago.

(Reporting by Marco Trujillo and Borja Suárez; writing by Emma Pinedo; editing by Nathan Allen, Mark Heinrich and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Coastal towns locked down in La Palma as lava crashes into ocean

MADRID (Reuters) – Authorities on the Spanish island of La Palma ordered residents of three coastal towns to stay indoors on Monday after a new stream of lava crashed into the ocean, sending thick clouds of potentially toxic gases high into the sky.

A third tongue of lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which has been erupting for two months, reached the water around midday (12:00 GMT) a few kilometers north of where two previous flows hit the sea.

Drone footage from the local council showed white clouds billowing out of the water as the red hot molten rock slid down a cliff into the Atlantic.

Residents in Tazacorte, San Borondon and parts of El Cardon were told to stay inside with doors and windows shut as strong winds blew the cloud back inland.

Soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit were deployed to measure air quality in the area.

The airport was also closed and is likely to remain so for up to 48 hours due to the unfavorable weather conditions, said Miguel Angel Morcuende, technical director of the Pevolca eruption response committee.

Residents in the capital Santa Cruz had been advised to wear masks for the first time since the eruption began due to high concentrations of particulate matter and Sulphur dioxide in the air, he said.

According to the Copernicus disaster monitoring program, lava flows have damaged or destroyed some 2,650 buildings since Sept. 19, forcing the evacuation of thousands from their homes on the island, part of the Canaries archipelago.

(Reporting by Nathan Allen, editing by Andrei Khalip and Angus MacSwan)

Rock rises out of the sea as second La Palma lava flow reaches ocean

MADRID (Reuters) – New cascades of red-hot lava tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean off Spain’s La Palma on Wednesday morning, sending up plumes of white smoke and extending a platform of volcanic rock created by earlier flows.

The stream of molten rock from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which began erupting in mid-September, reached the water near the popular surf spot of Los Guirres beach just before 2 a.m., according to the Transport Ministry.

A video uploaded by Spain’s Geology and Mining Institute showed rivers of molten rock sliding into the sea and large rocks rolling down a cliff, causing a cone of debris to emerge from the waterline.

Unlike the first time lava reached the ocean – just over a month ago – authorities said there was no need for residents to stay indoors.

“New confinements are not necessary because the populations are far away from the point of contact with the sea that occurred last night,” an emergency services spokesperson told Reuters.

Few people live in the affected area, which is mostly banana plantations.

Early on in the eruption authorities had feared that the reaction between the superheated lava and seawater could unleash powerful explosions and set off toxic gas clouds.

During the last major eruption on the island, some 50 years ago, a man died after inhaling such gases.

La Palma’s council said on Tuesday that seismic activity around the eruption site, as well as emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide, had been decreasing and the air quality remained good across most of the island.

(Reporting by Nathan Allen and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Giles Elgood)

La Palma observatory gets smart to fight the dust

By Marco Trujillo and Borja Suarez

LA PALMA, Spain (Reuters) – Viewed from La Palma’s highest point where enormous telescopes dot the rocky landscape, the Cumbre Vieja volcano looks like a distant puff of smoke breaking through a blanket of white cloud to create a sense of serene isolation.

But dust from the eruption, which has been wreaking havoc on the Spanish Canary island for more than 40 days, can clog up machinery, scratch lenses and cause electrical interference at the state-of-the-art observatory, hampering scientific work.

Most of the instruments are encased within huge domes that shut when there is risk of ashfall, but two so-called MAGIC telescopes, designed to detect gamma-ray bursts in distant galaxies via glittering mirror panels, have no such protection.

“We had to improvise a little,” said Victor Acciari, the center’s technical coordinator, gesturing to a screen of black bin bags taped over the mechanisms that can spin the 60 tonne structure to focus on any part of the cosmos in 20 seconds.

“We had to cover the most delicate parts, especially the gearboxes and the parts covered in grease,” said the 46-year-old astrophysicist and electrical engineer.

Minimal light pollution around La Palma, the westernmost of the Canaries and among the least populated, makes it an ideal site for astronomical observation.

Situated around 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the eruption site and 1,300 meters higher up, the observatory has found other ways to remain useful on nights when the ash cloud prevents the telescopes from operating.

“There are a number of instruments that can be helpful in monitoring the eruption,” said the observatory’s administrator, Juan Carlos Perez Arencibia.

Besides a fixed camera trained on the plume of ash emanating from the crater that helps Spanish authorities model the cloud’s behavior, the center recently adapted its fiber-optic network to measure seismic activity.

“It is a new situation for all of us living on the island,” Perez said.

“We are trying, even with our scientific work, to provide information to our international friends and colleagues on how they can help.”

Experts say it is impossible to predict how long the eruption, which has forced thousands to evacuate and destroyed over 2,000 homes, will last.

“Some telescopes will need repairs to their domes…but it’s relatively simple maintenance. Operations will restart quickly,” Perez said.

(Writing by Nathan Allen, editing by Ed Osmond)

La Palma evacuees see no end to ordeal after month of volcanic eruption

By Guillermo Martinez

LA PALMA, Spain (Reuters) -One month after the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on the Spanish island of La Palma spewing red-hot lava and ash, Culberta Cruz, her husband and their dog are living in a tiny caravan on a parking lot and see no end of the ordeal in sight.

“I’m tired, so tired … but who are we to fight against nature?,” the 56-year-old hospital kitchen worker said, sitting on a camping chair.

Her husband, banana grower Tono Gonzalez, was pulling electric cables and water hoses to connect to the vehicle, with their French bulldog looking on. The couple have been living in the small camping car for a month, constantly brushing off volcanic ash from the vehicle.

“One day it’s exploding there, the other a vent opens here, it’s just anguish and living in fear, waiting and praying for it to stop erupting,” Cruz said. “And it’s a lot of sadness for those who lost their homes.”

Streams of red-hot lava have engulfed almost 800 hectares (2000 acres) of land, destroying about 2,000 buildings and many banana plantations since the eruption started on Sept. 19. More than 6,000 people have had to leave their homes.

Carmen del Fresno, from the National Geographic Institute’s volcano monitoring department, told Reuters the eruption was unlikely to stop for at least another week, but there was no way to predict how long it would last.

“Historical records show eruptions lasting 24 to 84 days … It would be logical to assume something within those bounds, but we cannot risk (predicting) anything.”

After being ordered to evacuate, Cruz and Gonzalez first stayed at a relative’s farm and then took the caravan to the parking lot where they could get fresh water and a bit of electricity. They are now looking into renting an apartment that accepts pets.

“We don’t know when it’s going to stop, that’s the problem. This is nature and we have to deal with it, it’s bigger than us,” said Gonzalez.

Added Cruz: “The future is to try to remove what (belongings) we had and to wait for it to end, then get back to the lives we had before, even if it will be more difficult.”

(Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo in Madrid, writing by Inti Landauro and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Peter Graff)

Celebrity chef’s group feeds the hungry on Spain’s eruption-hit La Palma

By Silvio Castellanos and Sergio Perez

LA PALMA, Spain (Reuters) – Working in close proximity to the red-hot lava flowing from a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, emergency workers anxiously await their lunch break – and while any food would do, it tastes better when it comes from a celebrity chef’s kitchen.

Chef Jose Andres’ non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) has been delivering hot food, sandwiches and water to thousands of evacuees as well as the emergency workers overseeing residents’ removal from harm’s way.

“Although there are so many of us, it seems like there’s a lack of personnel … including those who come down to give us a sandwich! It seems silly but after eight hours on the ground it’s fundamental,” said Captain Diego Ortiz of the Guardia Civil police force.

Arriving in one of the emptied neighborhoods in a van, WCK volunteer Pablo Pais told Reuters: “The lava’s very close. Until the day before yesterday there were still people in these houses.”

The non-profit started cooking 200 meals a day early in the eruption – which began on Sept. 19 – and is now making 1,400, with the amount growing daily, said Olivier de Belleroche, a 45-year-old chef from Madrid who works for WCK.

After the director of a local hotel suggested using up all the hotel’s food stocks as creeping lava threatening to cut off power lines, WCK and its partners organized a large convoy of food for the military, rescue workers and evacuees, he said.

“It’s very emotional, that sense of constantly being on the alert, so many people losing their homes,” Belleroche mused after pulling a tray packed with dozens of sealed hot meals out of the oven in a bustling kitchen ceded by a supermarket chain.

“You grow more involved with the people – I’ve been doing this for four weeks now,” he added, explaining that initially he had come just for a few days.

WCK head Andres is known for his innovative cooking and credited with popularizing tapas in America in the 1990s.

He has recently partnered with the Archewell charity of Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle to set up a series of community relief centres in disaster-stricken areas around the world.

(Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Clara-Laeila Laudette and Paul Simao)

Hundreds more flee as lava spreads on Spain’s La Palma

LA PALMA (Reuters) – Around 300 more people fled their homes early on Thursday as flows of molten rock pouring from the Cumbre Vieja volcano threatened to engulf another area on the Spanish island of La Palma.

Emergency crews gave people living between the towns of Tazacorte and La Laguna a few hours to collect their belongings and pets and go to a meeting point.

During the morning, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the island, the Spanish National Geographic Institute said – the strongest of 100 quakes that have hit the eruption zone over the past 24 hours.

Tremors have been recorded almost constantly since before the eruption.

With no end in sight to the eruption, which is in its fourth week, authorities said they were expecting the lava flow to keep spreading northwest from the volcano.

Red hot lava has already laid waste to nearly 600 hectares of land and destroyed about 1,500 houses and other buildings, including a cement plant that gave off toxic fumes earlier in the week.

The flow has also devoured banana and avocado plantations vital to the island’s economy.

According to the official register, 300 people live in the area located between Tazacorte and La Laguna.

A small group of between 10 and 15 people who lived nearby already left on Wednesday evening. More than 6,000 people have been evacuated on the island of 83,000 people.

(Reporting by Silvio Castellanos, Sergio Perez and Bart Biesemans; Writing by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Inti Landauro, Robert Birsel and Andrew Heavens)