La Palma banana plantation worker covered in volcanic ash (Image source:facebook)
The volcanic eruption in La Palma (click for more), the westernmost Canary Island, continues unabated and the emitted lava has now destroyed more than 500 buildings.(Ed.: the church of Todoque has now fallen victim to the advancing first lava flow, which has reactivated due to fresh hot lave running under the previous and already cooling stream). Most of the affected properties were vaporized by the over 1.000ºC hot lava which is over twelve metres thick in places. The shocking video below demonstrates the destructive power:
The eruption which started a week ago entered a more explosive phase on Wednesday, Sept. 22nd 2021, and the volcano now emits large volumes of lava, red-hot rocks, pyroclastic material, gases and ash. The plume over the volcano is up to six kilometres high at times and has even reached central Europe, while it forced the closure of La Palma's airport. Obviously La Gomera is getting a fine dusting, too and people are advised to wear a face covering for an entirely new reason now.
The image at the start of this post demonstrates the plight of La Palma's farmers. The island's banana crop alone contributes 50% to the island's economy. Large tracts of agricultural land have also been buried under the lava which will take a long time to cool down and decades to be of any use again.
Below is a drone video of the devastation, taken a few days ago:
The government of the Canary Islands has pledged to buy over 200 properties to relocate residents who have lost everything and a major aid programme has started to distribute essential goods to the more than 6.000 evacuees.
Friends of mine who were living just above Todoque have lost everything as their house, workshop and organic farm were right in the middle of the first lava stream.
If you'd like to make a donation, you can do so by sending money to one of the two accounts of the municipal administration of El Paso, under whose jurisdiction the affected area is and who are trustworthy to direct the funds without costs to aid those affected. I trust them and have just donated.
To: Ayuntamiento El Paso
Reference/Message: Erupcion Volcanica
Bank 1: LA CAIXA, CAIXESBBXXX, IBAN: ES26 2100 7109 3122 0015 5652
Bank 2: CAJA SIETE, BCOEESMM076, IBAN: ES57 3076 0480 6710 0761 6723
Explosive phase:
The cone of the main eruption which has gained a height of over 250 metres in less than a week suffered a partial collapse of its western flank after another eruptive opening began spewing lava on its northern side.
The new lava is flowing at a pace of about 30 metres per hour towards the sea while initial main stream came almost to a stop in the town of Todoque, but is now slowly flowing again.
If and when the lava will reach the sea is still not clear, but once it interacts with the Atlantic it will cause further problems as explosions and toxic gases will be generated.
(UPDATE Ed. Tues night: Since 11pm lava is now flowing freely into the sea, after igniting and demolishing more buildings, large covered banana plantations, and the farmers co-operative building with stocks of fertilizer, which caused some toxic explosions. No personal damages are reported thanks to the precautions taken. There's now about 700 buildings destroyed or severely damaged. The eruption continues strongly and further earthquakes, some of around 3.3, were registered tonight in the vicinity of the the new volcano, suggesting a further push of fresh lava)
The tremor remains steadily strong, there are fairly regular minor quakes and some rockfalls have been reported.
How explosive the volcano has been lately can be appreciated in the video below which also captured the major explosions that shattered window panes miles away from the volcano:
