new vents open, the lava flows accelerate [FOTO e VIDEO]

MeteoWeb

Several new vents have opened in the volcano area Summit Old, on the Spanish island of The Palm: they have emitted lava flows that are accelerating along a ridge and threatening to aggravate damage to evacuated land, roads and houses, local authorities said today. The emission from the new main vent is very fluid and advances at a speed of 6 meters per minute towards areas not touched until now, said Maria Jose Blanco, spokesperson for the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN).

The eruption began on September 19: in the 10 weeks since then, scientists have identified at least 11 different lava flows, which have covered at least 1,100 hectares of land, including thousands of homes, roads, power lines and irrigation pipes for banana plantations, economically important for the island. One of the lava rivers last week destroyed a local cemetery, re-burying the remains of more than 3,000 people. Despite the damage, no injuries or deaths were directly linked to the eruption.

Experts said at least 80 earthquakes were recorded overnight, with the strongest reaching a magnitude of 3.6. Despite the relentless volcanic activity on the island, flights returned to La Palma smoothly this weekend, after a week of airline cancellations due to the amount of ash spilling into the airport area.