The lava flow from the volcano in La Palma has overflowed into the main cone from the other outlets due to the sheer volume of lava trying to escape as the eruption continues with force, according to the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan).
This occurred just after 2pm this afternoon following an earthquake measuring 4.5 degrees on the Richter Scale detected by the National Geographic Institute (IGN) earlier this morning at a depth of 37 kilometres.
The two arms of the most active lava flows have slowed down their progress after entering the La Laguna neighbourhood, in Los Llanos de Aridane (NOT the La Laguna in Tenerife), which has been completely evacuated, after destroying a supermarket and the local football pitch and stadium.
Lava flows through the town of La Laguna in La Palma
The technical director of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca), Miguel Ángel Morcuende, explained this afternoon that the advance of this lava in the last few hours led to the preventive evacuation of people who had not yet been evicted and that another 800 had been evacuated.
Morcuende has detailed that the two ‘tongues’ of this new wash, located above the original one, had "high intensity and had travelled a lot last night, but have lost their strength and ability to keep moving forward since the destruction in La Laguna, as the building materials in the lava has made it more viscous.”
