Addis Ababa, September 20, 2021 (Walta) – Between 5,000 and 10,000 people are being evacuated after a volcano began erupting on the La Palma island of Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday afternoon.
Regional authorities confirmed that the evacuations have begun in the wake of the eruption, which began at 3:12 p.m. on the Cumbre Viejo volcano.
The eruption came after a week in which over 20,000 earthquakes were measured on the La Palma island, the second youngest of the Canary Islands.
A quake of around 4 points on the Richter Scale announced the start of the eruption, with TV images capturing lava, smoke, and ash being expelled from five fissures on the hillside, although by 10 p.m. lava was escaping from seven different apertures.
Although no casualties have been reported, several properties, as well as woodland and pasture, have been destroyed by the lava flow which is advancing towards the sea on the southwest coast of the island.
On Sunday evening, authorities began evacuating an estimated 5,000 people from the municipalities of El Paso, Tazacorte, and Los Llanos de Aridane, in accordance with plans set up in the framework of the Canary Island Volcano Emergency Plan.
Around 40 people with reduced mobility had previously been evacuated and farm animals have also been moved from the area, while schools in the area will be closed on Monday and the lava flow has cut the AP 212 road and affected another four, which have been closed to traffic.