La Palma eruption update 2nd october 2021: Number of earthquakes increases

La Palma eruption update 2nd october 2021: Number of earthquakes increases

Daily summary

Based upon improved meteorological conditions and air quality levels, the confinements of parts of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane on the evening of the 1st October have been lifted, as well as the confinement of Tazacorte ordered six days ago. The eruption continues to show a strombolian mechanism, with pulses of various intensity, and both effusive and more explosive vents. A small ash and gas emission center opened on the NW flank of the main cone after 9:00 am The two effusive events that opened up on the 1st October away from the main cone continue to feed a lava flow that now skirts the northern edge of the previous flows, although it is not certain whether it will run laterally or completely join these older flows. The lava delta continues to grow and is now up to 35 m thick and reaches 540 m from the coastline. The last irrigation connection in the area, in El Remo, has been destroyed by the lava flows, and authorities are working on plans to install portable desalinization plants to resupply the area with water for crop irrigation.

Volcanic tremor has increased during the day, with some high-frequency tremor being recorded close to the lava delta, too. Regarding deformation, the distal stations still show a slight downward trend, and the closer stations show some pulses that could be related to the eruptive activity. Earthquake activity continues to be concentrated near where the precursory seismic swarm began on the 11th September, at 10-15 km depth, as well as some earthquakes surrounding the eruptive center. There has been a marked increase in the number of earthquakes recorded, with 46 earthquakes were recorded, peaking at 3.6 mbLg. The ash and gas plume height however are lower, at 4500 m, as are the SO2 emissions, which were measured at 2,330 tons per day.

A scientist stands next to a large, orange, fast flowing lava flows. The erupting volcano and its dark grey ash cloud is seen in the background.

A volcanologist stands next to the lava flow created by the two effusive vents which opened up to the north of the main cone on the 1st October. Image credit: INVOLCAN

Sources: Government of the Canary Islands, PEVOLCA, Involcan, IGN, DSN, Cabildo La Palma, 112 Canarias, Tolouse VAAC

Lava flows

Earthquakes

Exclusion zone map

Exclusion zones shown here have been approximated from press releases from the Cabildo de La Palma and will not be exact, nor claim to be official maps of the exclusion zones. For official information, please contact the Cabildo de La Palma.

Official social media

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News articles

  • BBC News – La Palma: Residents count the cost of volcanic eruption – here
  • Space – Unstoppable lava from La Palma volcano eruption reaches ocean in stunning space photos – here

To see our full news archive, visit our open data section or click here.

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Eruption footage

News and Interviews

Witness Testimonies

Interactive Lava Flow Map

Notes: Use the button in the top right to open the map into full screen mode. Use the legend icon in the top left to see the legend and further information about the map. Click on individual days to see an outline of the lava flows on that day.

Interactive Earthquake Map

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Notes: The size of the points represents the size of the earthquake, and the colour represents the depth. The map will also only show a certain number of points at once. For ease of use, we recommend you uncheck all dates and the satellite basemap from the legend in the top right, and inspect the earthquakes one day at a time.

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