La Palma volcano erupts

There have been enormous columns of volcanic material in the area near Las Manchas. The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, says that the specific point where the eruption has occurred is not populated. Nevertheless, local authorities have been evacuating residents with mobility problems from certain villages.

Since September 11, the National Geographic Institute and the Canaries Volcanological Institute have been registering thousands of small earthquakes in the vicinity of the Cumbre Vieja. The foci began at a depth of more than 20 kilometres but have progressively increased to the surface.

Two of the last three previous eruptions in the Canaries have occurred in La Palma - in 1949 and 1971.