La Palma eruption: River of lava flows down hillside
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The eruption began on September 19 and has continued for more than 70 days. This means it has become the longest seen volcanic eruption on the island, according to EuroWeekly.
Before this, the record belonged to a 66-day eruption which began in late 1677 and ended in early 1678.
Volcanodiscovery.com reports that well over 1,000 earthquakes were reported at the Spanish island in the past two weeks.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center publishes a tsunami watch when an earthquake occurs with a magnitude over 7.5.
Most those recorded in the past two weeks have had a magnitude of between 2 and 3, with close to a third coming in at between 3 and 4.
But the figures are creeping upwards, with the largest earthquake since the eruption began being registered on Friday morning.
This came in with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale, sparking new fears that a tsunami could be triggered.
The risk of tsunamis is also increased by landslides, which the volcano on La Palma is believed to be prone to.
On Sunday morning, several new vents opened at the northern and northeastern base of the volcano’s main cone.
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Volcano Discovery reported that this produced new lava fountains and emitted new lava flows and came as a result of a surge in magma under the surface.
Reuters fact checkers have, however, played down fears of the eruption sparking a so-called “mega tsunami” that could hit the US East Coast.
The Canary Islands Government plans to provide 200 temporary homes for families who have lost their own homes to the lava.
Housing minister Sebastian Franquis said moving families into new permanent housing will take years.
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Quoted in Canadian Weekly, he said: “[This] will take four years, which all interested parties are already aware of.”
More than 2,500 buildings are already understood to have been destroyed by the lava.
La Palma is home to around 83,000 residents.
Thousands of these have already been evacuated from their homes, and the disruption is not expected to end any time soon.
Late last month, Canary Island officials said the end was still well in the distance.
President Angel Víctor Torres said: “There are no signs that an end of the eruption is imminent even though this is the greatest desire of everyone.”
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