Disasters & Accidents

Dozens of earthquakes hit volcanic area on Spain’s La Palma

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, Oct 24 (EFE).- The area around the volcano that erupted on the Canary Island of La Palma was shaken by some 79 earth tremors early Sunday, the Spanish National Geographic Institute (IGN) said.

The strongest earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.1, was registered in the municipality of Fuencaliente, in the southern part of the island and occurred at a depth of 13 kilometers. It could be felt across almost all of La Palma, an island of 85,000 inhabitants.

Out of the 79 quakes, 28 had a magnitude of 3 or more.

Flows of lava, meanwhile, swallowed up some 14 houses as they continued to spew out of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, bringing the total number of buildings devoured since the eruption began on September 19 to 2,143.

An area of almost 900 hectares also has been destroyed, according to the latest update of the European Copernicus terrestrial-monitoring satellite system.

Some 7,500 people have been forced to evacuate their homes since the volcano became active again after being dormant for 50 years.

La Palma has been the site of seven of the 16 volcanic eruptions the archipelago has experienced since record-keeping began after the conquest of the Canaries in the 15th century.EFE

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