Spain

Spanish volcano eruption escalates, prompting evacuations and airport closure

USA TODAY

Seven days after a volcano on La Palma erupted, lava flow and ash continue to spread shutting down the local airport and leaving hundreds without a home. As of Friday, almost 6,000 people have evacuated.

The government is working to locate emergency housing for the affected families as researchers are unsure when the ash and lava flow will stop.

The Minister of Public Works Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands, Sebastián Franquis announced Friday his department purchased 257 newly built homes. The homes will be offered to families affected and left homeless by the volcano eruption.

Photos of the eruption:Volcano on Spain’s Canary Island of La Palma erupts

First eruption in 30 years:Lava destroys homes and forces evacuations

The "ash accumulation" shut down La Palma's airport on Saturday, after several flights to and from La Palma were canceled on Friday afternoon, Spain's airport operator AENA tweeted on Saturday.

Miguel Ángel Morcuende, the technical director of the Pevolca, said he can't predict when the lava flow will reach the sea. Pevolca establishes a "volcano traffic light" and alert system for local residents.

"The old lava flow is almost stationary, perhaps advancing 20 centimetres per hour, 3,100 metres from the eruption and 2,100 from the coast," Morcuende told local reporters.

Involcan scientific coordinator Nemesio Pérez told Canarias Radio, a Spanish media outlet, that they've found new, open vents on the volcano. The new vents could lead to further lava and ash flow.

Pérez also confirmed the volcano is reaching new "explosive" activity that could lead to more evacuations and home destroyed, he told Canarias Radio.

"Volcanic surveillance measurements carried out since the beginning of the eruption recorded the highest-energy activity so far during Friday afternoon," Pérez said.

Fact check:Tsunami reaching East Coast due to Spanish volcano highly unlikely, experts say

Lava spews from a volcano on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain in the early hours of Saturday Sept. 25, 2021. The prompt evacuations are credited with helping avoid casualties but scientists say the lava flows could last for weeks or months.

A column of smoke and pyroclastic materials spewed by the Cumbre Vieja volcano is seen from the neighbourhood of Todoque in Los Llanos de Aridane on the Canary island of La Palma in September 24, 2021.

Lava spews from a volcano on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain in the early hours of Saturday Sept. 25, 2021. A volcano in Spain's Canary Islands is keeping nerves on edge several days since it erupted, producing loud explosions, a huge ash cloud and cracking open a new fissure that spewed out more fiery molten rock.

Sept. 20, 2021: In this photo provided by iLoveTheWorld, a house remains intact as lava flows after a volcano erupted near Las Manchas on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain. A dormant volcano on a small Spanish island in the Atlantic Ocean erupted on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. Huge plumes of black-and-white smoke shot out from a volcanic ridge where scientists had been monitoring the accumulation of molten lava below the surface.

Lava from a volcano engulfs a building near El Paso on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, Monday Sept. 20, 2021. Giant rivers of lava are tumbling slowly but relentlessly toward the sea after a volcano, seen in backround, erupted on a Spanish island off northwest Africa. The lava is destroying everything in its path but prompt evacuations helped avoid casualties after Sunday's eruption.

Follow Gabriela Miranda on Twitter: @itsgabbymiranda

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