Watch the “lava tsunami” emanating from the Cumbre Vega volcano

Last Thursday, a 4.5-magnitude earthquake (14) hit the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands. The new earthquake is considered the third strongest earthquake recorded since the beginning of the eruption of a volcano Cumbre Vega volcano in September. Since then, a “lava tsunami” has continued to flow from the volcano, forcing 300 residents of the cities of Tazacourt and La Laguna to leave their homes.

The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute has unveiled a video with images of lava flowing, produced on Friday (15). “Today, one of our teams was able to film a ‘lava tsunami’; an incredible speed and flow in the lava channel,” they wrote in the video description. According to Vicente Soler, a researcher at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the volcano was expelling sediments dating back to the island’s formation, two million years ago.

paying off:

In the footage, we see the sticky magma – which easily reaches a temperature of 1075 degrees Celsius – pouring into the city of La Palma. According to information from the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service program, an area of ​​more than 7.3 square kilometers has been inundated by lava. The local government estimates that since the eruption began, nearly 7,000 people have been evacuated and left their homes.

The island has a population of about 85,000 people, and so far, there are no records of the victims of the eruption. However, authorities are concerned about the amount of sulfur dioxide released, as clouds of sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems – and it has already reached areas in the Caribbean and neighboring European countries.

Source: Science alertAnd euronewsAnd BBC