La Palma, Canary Islands: seismic crisis Sep 2021 - news and activity updates
Eruption started at 3.15 p.m. local time
Update Sun 19 Sep 2021 15:09
The eruption started at 3.15 p.m. local time (14:15 GMT), 10 minutes after our previous update when we noticed the strong increase in seismic activity.
Just before the eruption, authorities had started to evacuat about 40 people with mobility problems and farm animals from the area where most seismic activity had been. More evacuations are under way.
The eruption so far seems to be small and there is not much information available yet. The following video was taken immediately after a small vent opened, producing small lava fountains and an ash plume:
La Palma, Canary Islands: new eruption - La Cumbre Vieja volcano erupts for first time since 1971!
Sun, 19 Sep 2021, 14:25
14:25 PM | BY: T
Increasing seismic activity on La Palma as the volcano erupted (image: IGN)
Following the increasing seismic activity and the previously suspected beginning of tremor, the volcano erupted short time ago - probably much earlier than most expected.
There are not many details yet, but from initial pictures it seems that a fissure opened on the western flank of La Cumbre Vieja, feeding lava fountains and flows, burning forests and farmland.
In the meantime, seismic activity continues to increase by the minute, dominated by volcanic tremor, reflecting the flow of magma to the surface.
More details will follow.