A bright red river of lava from the volcano on Spain’s La Palma island finally tumbled over a cliff and into the Atlantic Ocean, setting off huge plumes of steam and toxic gases that required local residents outside the evacuation zone to remain indoors on Wednesday.
The immediate area had been evacuated for several days as authorities waited over a week for the lava that began erupting Sept. 19 to traverse the 6.5 kilometers to the island’s edge. On the way down from the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, the flows have consumed at least 656 buildings, mostly homes that turned out to be in its unstoppable march to the sea.
The meeting of molten rock and sea water finally came at 11 p.m. local time on Tuesday. By daybreak, a widening promontory of newborn land could be seen forming under plumes of steam rising high into the area.
Experts had warned that the arrival of the lava at the ocean would likely produce small explosions and release toxic gases that could damage lungs. Authorities established a security perimeter of 3.5 kilometers and asked residents in the wider area to remain indoors with windows shut to avoid breathing in gases.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported from the island’s first eruption in 50 years, thanks to the prompt evacuations of over 6,000 people in the first hours after the earth cracked open following weeks of tremors.
The flattening of the terrain as it approached the coast had slowed down the flow of the lava, causing it to widen out and do more damage to villages and farms. The local economy is largely based on agriculture, above all the cultivation of the Canary plantain.
Just before it poured down a cliff into the sea at a local point known as Los Guirres, the lava rolled over the coastal highway, cutting off the last road in the area that connects the island to several villages.
La Palma, home to about 85,000 people, is part of the volcanic Canary Islands, an archipelago off northwest Africa. The island is roughly 35 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide at its broadest point.
Cleaning crews swept up ash in the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, while more small earthquakes that have rumbled under the volcano for weeks were registered by geologists.
Flights to the airport on La Palma, an important tourist destination along with its neighboring islands, remained canceled due to a huge ash cloud that Spain’s National Geographic Institute said reached up to seven kilometers.
However, Laura Garcés, the director of Spain air navigation authority ENAIRE, said that she does not foresee any major problems for other airports on the archipelago or major air routes.
Experts have said that it impossible too early to determine how long the eruption will last. Previous eruptions in the archipelago have lasted weeks, even months.