Eruption in progress in La Palma / Canaries.

The Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (INVOLCAN) has just confirmed and made official the start of the volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries. Everything happens in real time (around 3:10 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. according to the television extract) so it is very difficult to have details on the start of the eruption.
For the moment we know that a plume of ash and gas rose to several hundred meters high. It appears from some images that the eruptive fracture that opened along one of the island's mountains is producing small lava fountains.
An emergency evacuation has been going on for about an hour!

The IGN had confirmed this September 19 at 12h UTC that the seismic activity has accelerated in recent hours in La Palma, with intense surface seismicity between 0 and 6 km and many earthquakes felt by the population. So far and since the start of the series, 6,632 earthquakes have been detected, of which 1,317 have been located. During today, 327 earthquakes were detected, of which 86 were localized with a maximum magnitude of 3.8 or the earthquake which occurred at 10:16 a.m. (UTC), widely felt on the island and at a depth of 2 km. The maximum cumulative vertical deformation has increased to about 15 cm in the area close to the current seismicity and its distribution is still compatible with a center of pressure in this area. Another disturbing trend is the general tendency of earthquakes to become shallower. Overall, the likelihood of another volcanic eruption continues to rise

The Pevolca has decided to start evacuating people with reduced mobility as a priority in the urban areas of Las Manchas (Las Manchas de Abajo, Jedey, San Nicolás and El Paraíso), which includes the municipalities of El Paso and Los llanos de Aridane; El Charco (Fuencaliente), La Bombilla (Los Llanos de Aridane and Tazacorte) and El Remo and Puerto Naos (Los Llanos de Aridane).

The volcanic traffic light remains yellow, although civil protection actions are intensifying and the Technical Directorate is empowered to schedule the selective evacuation of other areas of Cumbre Vieja, if necessary, under the coordination of Cabildo and the town halls. The estimated population is one thousand people.

The volcanic traffic light remains yellow, although civil protection actions are intensifying and the Technical Directorate is empowered to schedule the selective evacuation of other areas of Cumbre Vieja, if necessary, under the coordination of Cabildo and the town halls. The estimated population is one thousand people.

Some precautionary measures communicated to the inhabitants of #LaPalma #CanaryIslands during the last 2 hours: (Cabildo de La Palma- 19.09.2021 / 13h)
- Closure of the Los Brecitos LP-214 road.
- Closure of the Refugio del Pilar recreation area
- Closure of the Caños de Fuego Center and access to the Cueva de las Palomas
Access to the rest of the cavities located in the area is prohibited
- The network of trails in La Palma and the forest tracks that cross the municipalities of Fuencaliente, El Paso, Los Llanos de Aridane and Villa de Mazo are closed.
- Small game day is suspended in these same municipalities.
- People were also advised to take their cattle to the El Paso and San Isidro livestock fairs in Breña Alta.

To be continued ...