Several hundred more people on the Spanish island of La Palma have been told to evacuate as a volcano erupts and creates a river of lava being compared to a tsunami.
No casualties have been reported in the eruption of Cumbre Vieja, which began Sept. 19, for the first time since 1971.
On Thursday, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute tweeted video of lava moving down a slope and called it “a truly lava ‘tsunami.'”
“Amazing speed and overflow of the lava channel,” the institute wrote.
Late Thursday, more than 300 people were forced to evacuate, The Associated Press reported, citing the La Palma government.
Almost 7,000 people had been evacuated by Thursday, and more than 1,500 buildings have been destroyed, according to the European Union’s emergency response coordination center.
There are two volcanic centers on La Palma, and Cumbre Vieja is the southern and youngest one, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program. Cumbre Vieja is the most active volcano in the Canary Islands, it said.
La Palma, which has a population of around 85,000, is one of eight main islands of the archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa.
The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
