Volcano erupts on Spanish island in the Atlantic Ocean
MADRID (AP) — Spanish scientists said Sunday that the volcano on the Atlantic island of La Palma has started to erupt after a week of building seismic activity.
Spanish state broadcaster TVE shows plumes of black and white smoke shooting up from a point on the island’s Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge.
The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute reported the eruption.
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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
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MADRID — Spanish authorities began the evacuation of people with reduced mobility on the Atlantic island of La Palma on Sunday as experts warned of stronger earthquakes and the sustained threat of a volcanic eruption.
While government experts said that an eruption is not yet imminent, there has been an intensification of earthquakes near the surface of the island, which belongs to the Canary Islands archipelago.
Authorities ordered the evacuation of residents with reduced mobility from villages near the center of the seismic activity as a preventative measure. Some will be taken in at a military outpost on the island.
A 3.8-magnitude quake was recorded Sunday as vibrations from the seismic activity were felt on the surface. The Scientific Committee of the Volcano Risk Prevention Plan said that stronger earthquakes “are likely to be felt and may cause damage to buildings.” The committee of scientific experts also signaled out a stretch of the island’s southwest coast for the risk of rockfalls.
Emergency services have been ordered to be prepared to evacuate around 1,000 people if necessary, authorities said.
La Palma has been on alert this week after geologists reported an accumulation of molten rock under Cumbre Vieja, a dormant volcanic ridge near the island’s southern tip. Its last...