VIDEO: A second wash is created in the La Palma volcano that also goes to the sea

Photo: SUNSETS SWEDEN / Getty Images

This Friday the authorities in La Palma, Spain, confirmed that a new lava flow was created parallel to the main one and that it also goes to the sea. This new current could affect areas that had previously been classified as safe, in addition, experts do not rule out that more cracks open at the top of the Cumbre Vieja.

Luca D’Auria, director of the Volcanic Surveillance Area of ​​the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan), told Radio Canarias that despite the fact that the second lava river is not as big as the first, does flow faster and could affect several homes and structures before reaching the sea.

Until Thursday afternoon, the volcanic activity of Cumbre Vieja had remained under certain stability, but then began to rise and reached levels similar to those of 11 September when it erupted, which may have caused the second wash this Friday.

For his part, the geologist José Luis Barrera, from the Colegio de Geól ogos, pointed to Europa Press that the lava that is coming out of the second wash is more liquid and much hotter than the first recorded in mid-September. He said that this is because there are no longer as many intense explosions as in the first days, which causes the magma to come out more easily .

Barrera also recalled that lava rises to the surface due to volcanic gases that They “push” the magma towards the mainland . When it does it with more pressure is when the violent eruptions towards the air are observed.

The expert also indicated that this new wash is directed to the sea and expects that will continue to modify the contour of the island increasing the delta that continues to grow due to the first river of lava.

According to the National Geological Institute (IGN) they have been detected in the last hours approximately 12 earthquakes whose epicenter is inside the volcano . Of the total, only two were strong enough for the population to feel them.

María José Blanco, head of the IGN in the Canary Islands, told RTVE than in the last 13 days the Cumbre Vieja has issued close to 80 million cubic meters of volcanic material at the surface area , more than double what the Teneguía laid off in a month in 2021.