Rabat – There is no imminent end in sight to the volcanic eruption that has wreaked havoc on the Spanish island of La Palma since it began about a month ago, the president of the Canary Islands said on Sunday.
La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of the eight volcanic islands that make up Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast. The islands are approximately 100 kilometers away from Morocco at their nearest point.
The National Geographic Institute of the Spanish Government reported 42 earthquakes on the island on Sunday, with the largest measuring 4.3.
“There are no signs that an end to the eruption is imminent even though this is the greatest desire of everyone,” President Angel Víctor Torres said at a Socialist party conference in Valencia, citing the view of scientists.
Streams of lava have lain waste to more than 742 hectares of land and destroyed almost 2,000 buildings on La Palma since the volcano started erupting on September 19.
About 7,000 people have been evacuated from their homes on the island, which has about 83,000 inhabitants and forms part of the Canary Islands archipelago off northwest Africa.
Last week, the La Palma volcano released yet another stream of molten rock, spreading more destruction on the island where more than 1,000 buildings have already been destroyed by the lava.
As a result of the partial collapse of the volcanic cone overnight, a new lava stream began to descend the Cumbre Vieja ridge towards the western shore of the island.
Authorities said the new lava flow is within the area that was hastily evacuated following the September 19 eruption, when 6,000 residents were forced to flee their homes and farms.
Mariano Hernandez, president of La Palma island, reported no immediate casualties, but he expressed concern “about the populated areas on the coast.”
“People should not come near the eruption site where the lava is flowing,” Hernández said. “We are having serious problems with the evacuation because the roads are jammed with people who are trying to get close enough to see it.”
Itahiza Dominguez, head of seismology at Spain’s National Geology Institute, told Canary Islands Television that although it was too early to predict the eruption’s duration, prior “eruptions on the Canary Islands lasted weeks or even months.”
50 years ago, La Palma experienced an eruption that lasted just over three weeks. The last eruption on all the Canary Islands occurred underwater off the coast of El Hierro island in 2011, which lasted 5 months.
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