A French astronaut managed to record from space the eruption of the volcano of Cambre Vieja in the Canary Islands, Spain. Thomas Pesquet is on a mission for the European Agency on the ISS (International Space Station) and shared the picture on his Twitter profile yesterday.
“The volcano of La Palma erupts. The orange glow of the lava contrasts the darkness of the Atlantic Ocean and makes everything all the more impressive. The glow of the lava seems to be very close to the city lights,” wrote the astronaut.
About 200 houses were destroyed by lava, more than 6,000 people had to leave the city and a river of magma continues its way into the sea: these are the images left by the Cumbre Vieja volcano. Eruption on the island of La Palma, Spain, last Sunday.
Lava is ravaging everything in its way to the coast of the island in the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, although it is moving slower than expected at about 120 mph. From 180 houses have been washed away by the eruption of the lava volcano, according to the European Emergency Monitoring System based on Copernicus Space. Although this number will surely increase.
On the way to the sea, the lava flow has already reached the final obstacle in relation to the urban center: Todoc, a town of about 1,200 inhabitants in the municipality of Los Llanos, southwest of La Palma, which forced the departure of its residents. .
Experts and government officials agree that magma will reach the ocean, but they don’t know when it will. Therefore, caution was exercised, as it can be predicted that when lava comes into contact with salt water at a temperature of 1,000 °C, it will release toxic gases and cause an explosion.
The moment will be crucial, as the chairman of the regional government of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, warned today. For this reason, all administrations – the Spanish, Canary and La Palma Islands – are asking the population not to go on the roads near the volcano or near lava flows.
Spanish government president Pedro Sánchez urged caution and announced that La Palma would be declared an emergency zone. In addition, the Canary Islands will be able to request help from the European Union Solidarity Fund to reduce the damage caused by the eruption of the volcano, which is worth more than 400 million euros.
