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Risk of toxic gas from Canaries eruption 鈥榠s low鈥
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A Spanish official yesterday downplayed the risk of toxic gases harming local populations after molten lava from a volcano in the Canary Islands hit the ocean, 10 days after a dramatic eruption that forced thousands to flee.
A vast stream of white-hot lava reached the sea late on Tuesday, sparking fears the contact would release clouds of acidic gas into the air, which could irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory tracts, possibly causing breathing difficulties.
But windy conditions overnight blew the gas towards the sea, reducing the risk, said Ruben Fernandez, a senior official with the Canary Islands鈥 Pevolca volcanic emergency committee.
鈥淲e have a strong wind in the area which is blowing the cloud of gases towards the sea, so the risk for the local population is much lower than initially feared,鈥 he told Spain鈥檚 public radio.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano straddles a southern ridge in La Palma island, home to 85,000 people, and erupted on September 19, forcing some 6,000 people to flee and destroying hundreds of properties.
Since its eruption, it has spewed out rivers of lava that have slowly crept towards the sea, finally hitting the ocean on Tuesday night just after 11pm.
Dramatic television images showed a stream of glowing lava cascading off a cliff into the water, churning up huge clouds of vapor and gas.
As it hit the water, the lava quickly built up an impressive deposit 鈥渕ore than 50 meters high,鈥 the Spanish Institute of Oceanography tweeted, posting pictures from its research vessel.
About 300 residents of Tazacorte, a small town on La Palma, were ordered to stay at home early Monday as a precautionary measure to avoid harm from the emissions.
Even before that, the Spanish archipelago had set up an exclusion zone of 3.5 kilometers around the site, which also extended two nautical miles into the sea.
A state of natural disaster has been declared on the island, where the molten rock has so far scorched its way across more than 268 hectares of land and destroyed 656 buildings, according to the European Union鈥檚 Copernicus Earth Observation Programme.
No deaths have been reported, though during the last two eruptions in 1949 and 1971, three people died, two of them from gas inhalation.
Cowering in fear
鈥淪ince Sunday 19 September, hardly anyone in the Canary Islands has slept and the people of La Palma have been cowering in fear with a tremendous sense of desolation,鈥 the islands鈥 regional head Angel Victor Torres told COPE radio yesterday.
He said the devastation had been vast as the lava scorched a massive furrow towards the sea.
鈥淲e are talking about lava flows that are 600 meters wide. In all of that area, there is nothing left, the devastation is tremendous,鈥 he said, indicating it had dealt a huge blow to banana plantations in the area, one of the islands鈥 key industries.
Last week, Torres had estimated the damage would exceed 400 million euros (US$465 million).
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