Emergency services on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma have informed residents of three more towns they must flee due to the ongoing volcanic eruption, which has already destroyed scores of homes.
In a notice released by PEVOLCA, the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan, on Friday, authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation, asking residents of Tajuya, Tacande de Abajo, and Tacande de Arriba to head to the El Paso soccer field amid concerns about “intensifying volcanic activity.”
? #ErupciónLaPalma ?Orden de evacuación del #PEVOLCApic.twitter.com/oO1WPiDm8I
Se ha abierto una nueva boca eruptiva en el flanco del cono activo / A new vent has opened in the flank of the active cone pic.twitter.com/uofYC7IfEA
Residents in the three towns had previously been told to remain indoors for their own safety, but officials now believe they should leave the areas due to the threat posed by a “high presence of ash” emanating from the volcano, which started erupting five days ago after decades of inactivity.
Since volcanic ash began spewing and lava flowing, over 400 buildings have been destroyed on the western part of La Palma. According to the Spanish Civil Defense force, around 240 hectares of lava have flooded out of the volcano so far, mostly into arable lands.
#EMSR546#ErupciónLaPalmaOur #RapidMappingTeam has released its 4th monitoring product for #LaPalma ?? using a new radar imageIt shows:?420 buildings destroyed (+30 compared to Monit03)?the lava flow covers 190,7 ha (+10.6 ha in 18h)? 15.2 km of roads destroyed pic.twitter.com/vQD3ho28Jt
The new evacuations come after experts at the Canary Islands National Geographic Institute warned that the lava flow from the volcano in Cumbre Vieja national park could continue for weeks, or even months.
Spanish President Pedro Sanchez has previously pledged government support to rebuild damaged areas of the island, with the council of ministers meeting next Tuesday to discuss the impact of the volcano.
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