As predicted earlier this morning, the main cone of the La Palma volcano has broken apart releasing a “huge wash" of lava that is flowing on top of existing cooler lava from the first eruption, in the direction of the sea, as confirmed by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) thanks the images taken by their drones.
Geologist Carlos Lorenzo reported in a video broadcast on social media that the images perfectly show how the cone is broken. "It has split in the southwest part, releasing a huge stream of very large blocks moving down the slope towards the sea," he explained while addressing the meeting of the steering committee of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca).
This new lava flow has been very fluid because it comes from more interior parts of the volcano and is being emitted at a higher temperature, until it begins to cool on the surface and slow down.
This announcement by the IGME comes shortly after the Involcan announced that a new emission point had opened up in addition to the two new eruptive mouths that opened yesterday (Friday), located further west of the main cone.
The technical director of Pevolca, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, has appealed to the public to remain calm with the evolution of the volcano La Palma because they are not facing a phenomenon any more explosive than a usual eruption in the Canary Islands.
“We are facing a fissure volcanic event of a strombolian character, which means that the different emission centres that are appearing, are doing so along a fissure, in this case in a northwest-southeast direction, in which a series of emission centres that can be turned off and new ones appear or even those that have already been turned off reappear,” he said this afternoon during the press conference after the meeting of the Pevolca Steering Committee.
