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The encounter of lava with a temperature of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius may cause an explosion and create a cloud of toxic gas.
A huge lava river from a volcano in the Canary Islands continues to destroy everything in its path as it tilts toward the sea, and its arrival is expected to produce a cloud of toxic gas.
Overnight, a new crack appeared on the slope of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, spewing out more lava, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes on Tuesday.
“The lava flow flows ruthlessly to the sea. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it,” said Angel Victor Torres, the head of the Canary Islands region.
“Faced with this lava flow moving at a speed of 200 meters per hour, we are completely powerless and have swept everything in its path… and will continue to do so on the way to the sea.”
The encounter of lava with a temperature of over 1,000 degrees Celsius (over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) with a body of water can cause an explosion and create a cloud of toxic gas.
Patrick Allard, an expert in volcanology at the Paris Geophysical Institute, told AFP: “The clouds created by the interaction of seawater and lava are acidic” and “If the distance is too close, it may be dangerous.”
Torres asked the locals to remember that the last eruption on the island was in 1971, when a person died after breathing in the gas released when lava and water met.
The volcano straddles the southern ridge of La Palma, one of the seven islands that make up the Atlantic archipelago off the coast of Morocco.
Since it erupted on Sunday afternoon, the eruption has forced 6,000 people to leave their homes and destroyed large areas of property and land.
The European Union’s Earth observation satellite Copernicus wrote on Twitter: “166 buildings were destroyed and 103 hectares (255 acres) were covered by lava flows.”
Although it is currently about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the coast, experts say that its speed may “variably vary greatly.”
Lava erupted from the volcano in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain on Sunday, September 19, 2021 [Jonathan Rodriguez/AP Photo]‘We have lost everything’
Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reported in La Palma on Tuesday that the air around the volcano was filled with ash made of tiny jagged rocks. “When you inhale them, it will only suffocate you, and the authorities here are really working hard to ensure the safety of the area,” he said.
“We have met people like this who slept soundly, slept in their car, watched what was happening, and unfortunately watched their homes destroyed,” Huck reported.
“This hasn’t happened in two generations. It really surprised the people here. It was expected, but many people didn’t expect it to happen in their lifetime.”
Overnight, with the sound of the police sirens, long lines of cars could be seen waiting to leave the area, and the flames of the volcanic eruption lit up the dark sky.
“You have been there for almost your entire life… and then one day the volcano decides to erupt and end it all,” the evacueant Israeli Castro Hernandez told AFP on Monday after his home was destroyed by a lava wall. society.
“We have been watching over there, and we couldn’t believe it. We always thought our house was under that volcano,” said his wife, Yurena Torres Abreu.
According to the Involcan Volcano Institute, after a magnitude 4.1 earthquake occurred at 9:32 in the evening (20:32 GMT), 500 people were evacuated overnight after a new crack appeared. This couple was one of them. .
“So many friends have lost everything. They left their home like us, wearing only the clothes on their backs, and almost nothing else. They spent their entire lives there,” said Elizabeth Torres Abreu, Yurena’s sister, who also Lost her house.
Stavros Meletlidis, a volcanology expert at the National Geographic Institute of Spain, told the Spanish radio station RNE that it is not yet clear when the lava will reach the sea.
“It can accelerate very quickly, especially when the terrain changes…or it can stay on the plain for a few hours,” he said.
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