The northern face of La Palma volcano has collapsed, causing more lava to erupt and threatening new urban areas

The northern face of the cone of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (La Palma) suffered a partial collapse last night, which means the emission of castings in different directions.

The rupture put the teams responsible for evacuating threatened areas on alert on Saturday, through obstetrics Many new lava flows, one of which is very abundant, which has already destroyed many buildings.

In all, there are three lava flows that occurred with the eruption of the volcanic cone, two of which are less dangerous, since their strength is low, and A third of this is who destroyed a few housesYes, and that it is under observation, although experts consider that because of the speed with which it descends, it will allow time to evacuate the necessary areas.

Partial separation of the cone also caused The expulsion of large masses of volcanic material and the emergence of new emission centers around the crater cannot be excluded.According to the latest reviews from volcanologists.

The Land acquired by lava from the sea, called delta lava (“Vajana”), which is in danger of collapsingIf it continues to advance to greater depths in the ocean, it will be accompanied by a sudden release of gases, with explosions and waves.

However, these waves will not exceed five meters in circumference of the interval, and will decrease in height with distance, according to experts.

Lava has already impacted the surface 492.75 hectares, and today it is not excluded that the width of the casting will increase in a new measurement, which on Friday was still at an altitude of 1250 meters.

Ash cloud turns to the south

Meanwhile, the latest report from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAAC) in Toulouse indicates that The ash cloud caused by the volcano, which will be active for three weeks tomorrow, turned south.

In this regard, the air traffic controllers explained that the change in direction that occurred in the past hours The area of ​​Tenerife was left empty, with its two airports – Tenerife Norte and Tenerife Sur – operating normally, and not in La Palma, which is still not working Although the situation will be analyzed during the morning.

Air quality remains ‘regular’

Among the parameters monitored around volcanic activity, two are in the spotlight on Friday: Air quality, which remains “regular”, according to the Volcanic Emergency Plan for the Canary Islands (Pevolca), and earthquakes.

In the Aridane Valley, where there were some specific measurements that exceeded the sulfur dioxide alert levels and were subsequently converted, the neighbors could lead a normal life, but with a mask, and only Going out as little as possible and always with the FFP2 mask is recommended for those with lung or bronchial diseases, asthma, heart problems, pregnant women and young children.

These SO2 peaks have been set in El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridan since then It only happened this past morning and the rest of the day the values ​​were normal.

Forty earthquakes in the night

Finally, the National Geographic Institute (IGN) overnight identified a Quarantine for earthquakes in La Palma – between 11:36 pm and 06:49 am – most notably at 25.55 am southwest of Villa de Mazo with a magnitude of 4.1 on the Richter scale and a depth of 39 km.

Between October 6 and 8, IGN . reported 180 earthquakes in the area affected by volcanic reactivation since 10.00 GMT last Wednesday, 56 of which were felt by residents. biggest earthquake (4,3) on Thursday at a depth of 35 km.

The “seismic swarm” is still active in the south of the island, in municipalities Mazo and Foencaliente, and average depths ranging approximately between 11 and 15 kilometers Although some have also been recorded at a distance of more than 30 km.

(With information from Europa Press and EFE)

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