the cone broke and new lights were added

Lava emitted by the Spanish volcano of Cumbre Vieja, on La Palma, slowed its speed in the last hours after the collapse of the upper part of the volcanic cone, as three simulcasting points were formed, the Canary Islands government website reported tonight.

According to the director of the National Institute of Geography (IGN) of the Canary Islands, María José Blanco, the two emission points that appeared the day before yesterday at the base of the cone have merged into a single mouth, to which must be added another point of emission, as well as two active lava flows, the oldest being almost stopped.

The Canary Islands Volcanological Institute reported yesterday that a new distribution focus was opened further west of the main focus.

Since the start of the eruption, lava covered more than 190 hectares on La Palma, destroying to date 570 buildings, in addition to 15.2 kilometers of roads.

The eruption, which started on the island last Sunday, it led to the expulsion of more than 6,000 people, without death or injury.

According to the Twitter account of the newspaper El País, the routes were packed with tourists who paid up to 500 euros for a flight, but locals are upset since “now is not tourism time for La Palma, it is time to help, and these people are not doing it”

Previously, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, technical director of the Special Plan for Civil Protection and Emergency Aid for Volcanic Risk (Pevolca), had assured that “although yesterday we had a phenomenon of irritability, it is- i.e. a significant increase in the energy of the eruption, we must say that follow the usual cannons, we are not confronted with a more explosive phenomenon than those usual in the Canary Islands “.

Morcuende also denied that “acid rain” could occur as a result of the volcano eruption. “There is no chance of acid rain, the air quality is very good”, he insisted during a press conference at the end of a meeting held this morning between the scientific committee and the steering committee of the special plan for civil protection and attention to emergencies due to volcanic risk in the Canary Islands.

For its part, the Volcanological Institute of the Canaries (Involcan), assured that “During the last hours, the amplitude of the volcanic tremor has decreased considerably in all the stations of the seismic network from the Canary Islands to La Palma. It is recalled that the volcanic tremor is linked to the intensity of the strombolian explosive activity “.

However, the Government of the Canary Islands has reported that yesterday’s evacuees will continue to be unable to return home. These are the inhabitants of Tajuya, Tacande de Abajo and Tacande de Arriba, who will remain evacuated “as a preventive measure, until the situation is assessed and they can have the guarantees of safe rehousing” .

The government has indicated that most of the evacuees are “mainly in the homes of family and friends and only 16 are staying at the Hotel Fuencaliente ”.

In addition, the local authorities published on their Twitter account the precautions when cleaning up ashes from houses and they recommended being especially careful when climbing on rooftops as they are particularly slippery. They also advised do not dry clean and spray water first, in addition to using FFP2 masks and goggles.

Cleaning tasks have also started at La Palma airport, although flights arriving and departing from the island have been suspended since yesterday.

“La Palma Airport it is inoperative due to the accumulation of ash. The cleaning tasks have started, but the situation can change at any time, ”according to Spanish airports and air navigation (AENA).

The Canary Islands authorities are trying to reassure the population after the night before the increased activity of the volcano, increasing explosions and opening two new lava holes.

According to the latest part published by the National Geographic Institute, “the amplitude of the volcanic tremor reached the highest values ​​of the eruption in the last 24 hours, during the most explosive phase “.

However, they pointed out that after opening a new mouth “the average amplitude has decreased considerably but it continues at high values ​​similar to those of the previous days, although without detection of explosions. “