With no sign of eruption's end, ash blankets La Palma island

LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, Canary Islands — A volcano connected the Spanish land of La Palma that has been erupting for six weeks spewed greater quantities of ash from its main rima Sunday, a time aft producing its strongest earthquake to date.

Lava flows descending toward the Atlantic Ocean from a volcanic ridge person covered 970 hectares (2,400 acres) of onshore since the eruption began connected Sept. 19, information from the European Union’s outer monitoring service, showed. On the mode down the slope, the molten stone has destroyed much than 2,000 buildings and forced the evacuation of implicit 7,000 people.

But authorities successful the Canary Islands, of which La Palma is part, person reported nary injuries caused by interaction with lava oregon from inhaling the toxic gases that often travel the volcanic activity.

Experts said that predicting erstwhile the the eruption volition extremity is hard due to the fact that lava, ash and gases emerging to the aboveground are a reflection of analyzable geological enactment happening heavy down the earth.

In a motion the Cumbre Vieja volcano’s enactment is inactive strong, the strongest earthquake since the commencement of the eruption shook La Palma aboriginal Saturday. The Spanish Geographic Institute, oregon IGN, said the magnitude 5 quake was felt not conscionable connected La Palma, but besides successful La Gomera, a neighboring land connected the occidental extremity of the Canary Islands archipelago.

IGN said the ash file towering supra the volcano reached an altitude of 4.5 kilometers (15,000 feet) connected Sunday earlier heavier upwind scattered it. Many adjacent towns and a scope basal further northbound that sits connected a upland astatine 2,400 meters supra oversea level (7,800 feet) were covered successful a heavy furniture of ash.

The eruption has besides turned the land into a tourer attraction, particularly arsenic galore Spaniards prepared to people All Saints Day, a Catholic festivity that honors the dead, connected Monday.

Local authorities said immoderate 10,000 visitors were expected implicit the agelong play and 90% of the accommodations connected La Palma were afloat booked. A shuttle autobus work for tourists wanting a glimpse of the volcano was established to support backstage cars disconnected the main roads truthful exigency services could enactment undisturbed.