The grim prognosis for the damage caused by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands | The estimate of the impact made by specialists

The consequences of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma, will be more important than imagined, warned specialists. The rivers of lava that run along the western slope of the island towards the coast will bury land, electrical and telephone communications will melt PVC drinking water pipes and create acid rain when, in the following hours, they reach the sea.

The specialists explained that the flows of this type of eruption, characterized by small explosions of materials in a pasty state, which occur in a few minutes or hours, drag on several cubic meters of lava per second.

According to José Mangas, professor of geology at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the effect of this phenomenon is the creation of different tongues of lava several meters wide that will go burying the tracks, viaducts, electric and telephone lines and the melting of PVC pipes through which drinking water passes, since the lava advances at about 1,100 degrees of temperature.

The geologist also pointed out that the destruction of houses, plantations, hotels, rural houses and agricultural facilities that this volcano will cause will add “significant losses” to the island of La Palma.

“We start, it can last for several days or weeks. The last eruption, of Teneguía in 1971 on the same island – in which two people died – lasted 24 days, ”he explained.

Thermal shock with the sea

When the rivers of lava reach the sea, which is expected to occur in the next few hours in the form of a huge waterfall that will fall from a cliff a hundred meters above sea level, there will be a gigantic thermal shock, due to the temperature of the volcanic material, which can reach 1,100 degrees, with the water at 23 degrees about.

This will generate huge clouds of acid vapor, since seawater contains 35 grams of salts per kilo. And salt is made up of chlorine (NaCl, sodium chloride).

“There will be explosions. It’s like mixing boiling oil with water. Acid rain can be generated which causes irritation of the throat and nose to the population ”, warned the specialists.

Mangas explained that, in any case, “it will be a wonderful sight” that remains to be seen from this historic eruption, although he hopes it will cause as little damage as possible.

Regarding the impact of this geological phenomenon on the atmosphere, the geologist explained that the eruptive column will expel at a distance greater than five kilometers ash less than two millimeters.

The ULPGC professor said that if the eruption is prolonged in time, the south of the island of La Palma could be affected by a significant layer of ash and toxic gases which will damage crops, since this is the direction that the material takes that it releases.