La Palma eruption update 7th November 2021: Poor air quality remains a problem in Los Llanos de Aridane

La Palma eruption – 7th November 2021

Daily summary

The lava flows generated by the increase in activity on the 6th continue to advance south of the effusive focus to the west, although currently they largely flow over past flows in the centre of the lava flow field, with only occasional overflows of the existing lava tubes and channels. New updates have been published about the damage from the flows, including the destruction of 56 km of roads and 284 hectares of agricultural land including 159 hectares of banana plantations. Seismicity continues to decrease relative to the last week, with 54 earthquakes being recorded mostly at intermediate (10-15 km) depths, with the day’s largest earthquake being a mbLg 4.6 event at 37 km depth. Favourable meteorological conditions for air quality and the operation of the airport continue.

The local 9 cm deformation recorded on the 6th at the Jedey LP03 station closest to the eruption site has reversed, and no significant signals continue to be seen in the other proximal GPS stations, with slight deflation seen at distant stations. SO2 emissions were estimated to be 16,000-23,000 tons per day, whilst the ash and gas plume reached 2700 m. However, satellite measurements suggest a downward trend in the SO2 emissions since the start of the eruption. After the intensification on the 6th, tremor returned to low levels. SO2 levels were good-reasonably good in all stations except Puntagorda which exceeded the daily threshold (125 μg/m3). The highest average daily PM10 levels since the eruption began were recorded at Los Llanos at 382 μg/m3 (daily threshold 50 μg/m3), classified as extremely unfavourable levels of PM10 particles, with hourly averages exceeding 1,000 μg/m3 between 12-4pm local time when wind speeds were higher causing resuspension of deposits. In all other stations, PM10 concentrations are between good and reasonably good levels.

A group of scientists gather round a group of equipment including computers, cameras and wires. The erupting volcano can be seen emitting ash and orange lava jets in the background.

IGN scientists install a thermal and visual camera to the east of the main cone of the volcano on the 7th. Image credit: IGN Spain, Iván Torres

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

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

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

News articles

  • EuroNews ES – Increase of lava emission rate – here
  • USA Today – Fact check of ‘earthquake grid’ conspiracy – here
  • USA Today – La Palma earthquake grid conspiracy debunked – 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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