Spain’s volcano erupts for 9 weeks without stopping, the new land area is equivalent to more than 50 football fields
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 22. The old Cumbre volcano on the island of La Palma in Spain has erupted for 9 weeks, and there is still no sign of stopping. Affected by the volcanic ash, the island’s airport was closed again, and it was still not open on the 21st.
According to Spanish Radio and Television Corporation reports, in the past weekend, the volcanic ash was blown to the northeast of La Palma, and the island’s airport had to cease operations. People still had to take boats to and from La Palma on the 21st.
The old Cumbre volcano began to erupt on September 19. According to a report by the German News Agency, the spouted magma covers 1,050 hectares of land on the island, and some of the magma flows into the sea. After cooling, new land is formed, covering an area of more than 40 hectares, which is equivalent to more than 50 football fields.
The volcanic eruption severely affected the lives of local residents, and about 7,000 of the more than 80,000 islanders had to leave their homes. Data from the European Union’s “Copernicus” Earth Monitoring Program showed that more than 2,600 buildings on the island were damaged by the volcanic eruption. Many roads, fields and banana plantations on the island were swallowed by magma.
The authorities of the Canary Islands to which La Palma belongs to estimate that the volcanic eruption caused economic losses of more than 900 million euros. In recent weeks, the activity of the Old Cumbre volcano has slowed down, but experts do not expect it to stop erupting in the short term. (Yuan Yuan)