The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma continues to erupt, spewing lava and ash for more than a month now. Upwards of 7,000 people have been evacuated, and some 2,100 buildings have been destroyed. A new branch of lava flow is expected to reach the sea today and release more toxic gases into the atmosphere, which may lead to home-confinement orders for neighboring towns. Officials are warning that the eruption could continue for several more months.
The Ongoing Volcanic Eruption in the Canary Islands
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![Two people dig in a pile of dark gray ash with part of a roof visible, and an erupting volcano in the background.]()
Read morePeople use shovels to remove volcanic ash that has piled on top of a house in Las Manchas on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, on October 14, 2021. #
Saul Santos / AP -
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![A huge lava flow encroaches into a neighborhood, setting several houses on fire.]()
Read moreLava flows from Cumbre Vieja, destroying houses in the La Laguna neighborhood on the Spanish island of La Palma, on October 21, 2021. #
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![Steam, ash, and lava erupt from the cone of a volcano.]()
Read moreSteam, ash, lava, and volcanic gases erupt from Cumbre Vieja, as seen from Tacande de Arriba, on October 2, 2021. #
Juan Medina / Reuters -
![A woman stands in her home, with an erupting volcano visible through a window over her shoulder.]()
Read moreMaria Jesus, 61, stands in front of a window in her home in El Paso, from which lava can be seen erupting through a window, on October 4, 2021. "My feeling is of fear, terror, sometimes agony, to see people who are suffering and have been left with nothing, and to help them in whatever way they can, but I am also having a very bad time," Jesus told Reuters. #
Borja Suarez / Reuters -
![Lava flows down a hill, setting lamp posts ablaze and knocking them over.]()
Read moreLava flows down a hill, setting lampposts ablaze and knocking them over in Los Llanos, as seen from Tajuya, on October 13, 2021. #
Sergio Perez / Reuters -
![A view of an erupting volcano, seen from orbit, with a black plume rising above low clouds.]()
Read moreOn October 4, 2021, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station shot a photograph of the south end of La Palma. The oblique camera angle provides a three-dimensional view of how the volcanic plume rises above and over low-level clouds. #
NASA Earth Observatory -
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![A woman and child are seen on a hillside, silhouetted against lava from an eruption.]()
Read moreA woman climbs a hill with a child to see the Cumbre Vieja volcano as it continues to erupt in Tacande de Arriba on October 2, 2021. #
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![A view across a bay, of a lava flow reaching the seashore, sending clouds of steam into the air.]()
Read moreA Spanish Civil Guard boat passes in front of steam rising in the background as lava reaches the sea, as seen from the Tazacorte port, on the Canary Island of La Palma, on October 6, 2021. #
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![A lava flow sets a house on fire.]()
Read moreLava from Cumbre Vieja burns a house, seen from Tajuya, on October 19, 2021. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
![Several dogs are seen in an aerial shot, resting on ash-covered ground.]()
Read moreSeveral stranded dogs are seen on ash-covered ground in an area surrounded by a lava flow, in the area of Todoque on the Canary Island of La Palma. Plans were made to rescue some of the dogs using drones, but they were canceled when a local group apparently went in on foot and rescued them. #
La Palma Local Goverment / VOLCA via Reuters -
![A person wearing a mask carries a small dog.]()
Read moreA woman hands an abandoned dog she found to the Benawara Animal and Plant Protection Association on October 5, 2021. The association is currently hosting and caring for animals because of the eruption of Cumbre Vieja. #
Juan Medina / Reuters -
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![People carry a small statue of the Virgin Mary outside as an eruption is seen in the background.]()
Read moreFaithful walk in a procession with the Virgen del Pino ("The Pine Virgin") around a chapel to pray for the Cumbre Vieja volcano to stop erupting, as it can be seen in the background from El Paso on October 19, 2021. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
![Several people stand in a doorway, beyond them is a truck filled with furniture in a street.]()
Read moreResidents stand in their house after they were allowed to enter again, having been evacuated three weeks prior in anticipation of the arrival of lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano in Tajuya, on October 20, 2021. #
Antony Paone / Reuters -
![Several people use shovels to clear piles of ash off the roof of a house near an erupting volcano.]()
Read morePeople clean ash off a house in Las Manchas on October 14, 2021. #
Saul Santos / AP -
![A view of a lava flow setting numerous fires along its path.]()
Read moreLava flowing from Cumbre Vieja burns fields in Los Llanos on October 5, 2021. #
Marcos Moreno / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A broad swath of lava flows downhill side toward houses.]()
Read moreLava from Cumbre Vieja flows among houses, seen from Tajuya, on October 19, 2021. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
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![Lava erupts and flows from the top of a volcano.]()
Read moreCumbre Vieja continues to erupt on the Canary Island of La Palma, as seen from El Paso, on October 10, 2021. #
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![Nighttime view of a city street with lava flowing down a hill in the distance.]()
Read moreA car drives through an empty street in the neighborhood of La Laguna as lava flows from Cumbre Vieja on October 9, 2021. #
Marcos del Mazo / Getty -
![Nighttime view of lava flowing into the ocean, glowing orange, and sending up plumes of steam.]()
Read moreThis picture taken from the port of Tazacorte shows lava flowing into the ocean on October 6, 2021. #
Jorge Guerrero / AFP / Getty -
![Dark volcanic rocks sit piled up in a flow that covers a road and several palm trees.]()
Read moreA Spanish Civil Guard barrier is set along a road blocked by a lava flow from Cumbre Vieja in La Laguna, on October 14, 2021. #
Sergio Perez / Reuters -
![A volcano erupts, sending a plume of ash high in the air.]()
Read moreCumbre Vieja erupts, sending a plume high in the air above the island of La Palma on October 9, 2021. #
Juan Medina / Reuters -
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