2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption

2021 Tajogaite eruption
The eruption seen at night on 20 September 2021
VolcanoTajogaite
Start date19 September 2021[1]
Start time15:12 WEST (14:12 UTC)[2]
End date13 December 2021[3]
TypeFissure eruption
Strombolian eruption
LocationLa Palma, Spain
28°36′54″N 17°52′07″W / 28.61500°N 17.86861°W / 28.61500; -17.86861
VEI3[4]
Impact843 million euros (total material damage, as of December 2021)[5]
Deaths1[6]
Lava flows (red) as of 23 November 2021

An eruption at the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, comprising the southern half of the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, took place between 19 September and 13 December 2021.[7] It was the first volcanic eruption on the island since the eruption of Teneguía in 1971.[8] At 85 days, it is the longest known and the most damaging volcanic eruption on La Palma since records began.[9][10][11] The total damage caused by the volcano amounts up to 843 million euros.[5]

The lava flow covered over 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres), prompting the evacuation of around 7,000 people. The lava flow was about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) wide at its widest point, about 6.2 kilometres (3.9 miles) long and reached the sea, destroying more than 3,000 buildings, cutting the coastal highway and forming a new peninsula,[12][13] as well as an extensive system of lava tubes.[14] The town of Todoque, including its easternmost neighbourhood Los Campitos, was completely destroyed by lava, which also reached La Laguna (a town within the municipality of Los Llanos de Aridane).[15][16] One death was caused by inhalation of toxic gases from the volcano.[17][18]

  1. ^ "Entra en erupción el volcán en La Palma". El País. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  2. ^ "El volcán Cumbre Vieja en La Palma entra en erupción". 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Concerns remain as La Palma volcanic eruption ends: 'The post-volcano will be tougher than the volcano'". EL PAÍS. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Cumbre Vieja". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
  5. ^ a b "Canarias remite al Gobierno una evaluación de daños del volcán de La Palma por 842,33 millones". Europa Press (in Spanish). 4 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Encuentran muerto a un hombre de 70 años que participaba en la limpieza de ceniza por la erupción de La Palma" (in Spanish). Cadena Ser. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  7. ^ Carracedo, Juan C.; Troll, Valentin R.; Day, James M. D.; Geiger, Harri; Aulinas, Meritxell; Soler, Vicente; Deegan, Frances M.; Perez-Torrado, Francisco J.; Gisbert, Guillem; Gazel, Esteban; Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Alejandro (May 2022). "The 2021 eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge on La Palma, Canary Islands". Geology Today. 38 (3): 94–107. Bibcode:2022GeolT..38...94C. doi:10.1111/gto.12388. ISSN 0266-6979. S2CID 246950800.
  8. ^ Carracedo, Juan Carlos; Troll, Valentin R. (1 January 2021), "North-East Atlantic Islands: The Macaronesian Archipelagos", in Alderton, David; Elias, Scott A. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Geology (Second Edition), Oxford: Academic Press, pp. 674–699, ISBN 978-0-08-102909-1, retrieved 10 October 2021
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference AP2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference EP2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "The new volcano is the most damaging among the historical eruptions on La Palma". Canarian Weekly. 20 October 2021.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference MB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ 20minutos (4 October 2021). "Últimas noticias de las erupciones volcánicas en La Palma". www.20minutos.es – Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Wei-Haas, Maya (19 July 2023). "Taking the First Steps Into a Newly Formed Volcanic Underworld". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  15. ^ "La lava del volcán de La Palma llega a la zona urbana de La Laguna". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  16. ^ Day, James M. D.; Troll, Valentin R.; Aulinas, Meritxell; Deegan, Frances M.; Geiger, Harri; Carracedo, Juan Carlos; Pinto, Guillem Gisbert; Perez-Torrado, Francisco J. (1 November 2022). "Mantle source characteristics and magmatic processes during the 2021 La Palma eruption". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 597: 117793. Bibcode:2022E&PSL.59717793D. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117793. ISSN 0012-821X. S2CID 252480769.
  17. ^ "Spain confirms first death from 2021 volcano eruption". phys.org. Science X Network. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Encuentran muerto a un hombre de 70 años que participaba en la limpieza de ceniza por la erupción de La Palma". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 13 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.