Canary Islands volcano lava reaches sea,

raising fears of toxic gas clouds

Residents near the coast warned to stay at home as inhalation of
acid plumes can cause skin irritation and breathing difficulties

Canary Islands authorities say a reaction between molten lava and seawater will
send clouds of toxic gas into the air and cause explosions of fragmented
rock. Photograph: Angel Medina/EPA
Agence France-Presse
Wed 29 Sep 2021 05.50 BST
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Lava from an erupting volcano in the Canary Islands has reached the ocean,
volcanologists said, raising fear of toxic gases being released as the lava hits
the sea water.

The regional government of the Spanish archipelago had already declared

an exclusion zone of two nautical miles around where the lava was expected
to enter the Atlantic and asked nearby residents to stay at home.
Canary Islands ‘miracle home’ stands alone against volcano’s lava flow
Read more

“The lava flow has reached the sea at Playa Nueva,” the Canary Islands
Volcanic Institute (Involcan) said on Twitter on Tuesday night.

La Cumbre Vieja volcano, which straddles a southern ridge in La Palma, an

island with 85,000 inhabitants, erupted on 19 September, spewing out
rivers of lava that have slowly crept towards the sea.

Residents of several areas of Tazacorte, a village near the coast, were told
on Monday to stay at home to avoid harm from the release of toxic gases
that can take place due to a reaction between molten lava and water.

On Tuesday afternoon, the slow-moving lava flow, which has varied in

speed over the past few days, even halting at one point, was still about 800
metres from the coast, making it impossible to predict when it would reach
the ocean.
The eruption has forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people from their
homes. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters

Residents were warned to stay home due to “the possibility that there will
be a small shock when the magma enters the sea water, and that this small
shock causes vapours which can be toxic,” stressed Miguel Angel
Morcuende, technical director of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency
Plan (Pevolca).

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Experts say the entry of lava into the seawater will send clouds of toxic gas
into the air, causing explosions and a fragmentation of the molten rock like
gunshots.

“Inhalation or contact with acid gases and liquids can irritate the skin, eyes
and respiratory tract, and may cause breathing difficulties, especially in
people with pre-existing respiratory diseases,” Involcan warned.
 00:43
Lava continues to erupt from volcano on Spanish island of La Palma – video

A state of natural disaster has been declared on the island, where the
molten rock has so far scorched its way across more than 258 hectares of
land and destroyed 589 properties – not all of them homes, according to
the European Union’s Copernicus Earth Observation Programme.

The government earlier on Tuesday released 10.5m euros in aid for victims
of the eruption, in particular to buy housing for those whose homes were
engulfed in lava.

The eruption has forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people from
their homes but has not killed or injured anyone so far.

The island of La Palma lives mainly from the cultivation of bananas and
tourism.

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