10,000 people to be evacuated after La Palma’s Old Summit erupts

10,000 people to be evacuated after La Palma's Old Summit erupts

10,000 people to be evacuated after La Palma's Old Summit erupts Credit: Twitter

Up to 10,000 people are expected to be evacuated after La Palma’s Old Summit erupts. The eruption began on Sunday, September 19 in the Las Manchas area.

La Palma has been hit by thousands of earthquakes in the last few days and the volcano is said to have at least eight mouths, according to the president of the Cabildo, Mariano Hernandez Zapata.

Zapata explained how an abundant amount of lava was being expelled from two of the mouths. He also said that the lava had crossed the Tacande highway in the direction of Alcala and El Paraiso. Sadly, both of these areas are populated.

The authorities had requested citizens to stay away from El Paso as this is close to ground zero.

Hour by hour the number of people being evacuated increases and according to the Guardia civil they expect that up to 10,000 people will need to be evacuated.

The initial hours of the eruption are critical as this will help scientists understand how the eruption process will develop.

As reported by El Confidential, “The Volcanic Risk Plan (Pevolca) has reported that it is very likely that there will be earthquakes of greater intensity, which may cause damage to infrastructure and may also cause rockslides on sections of the roads: LP2 between Fuencaliente and Las Manchas, and LP3 at the access to the tunnel from Santa Cruz de La Palma to El Paso.”

The Military Emergency Unit (UME) has been mobilised after the Directorate General for Security and Emergencies of the Canary Islands Government requested help from the government delegation of the islands. It was expected that military personnel would be on the island by Sunday night.


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Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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