New mouth opens on La Palma volcano as eruption finishes 10th week

MADRID, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- A new fissure began emitting molten lava, ash, and gas on the north-face of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, as the eruption completed its 10th week, according to the country's National Geographic Institute (ING) on Sunday.

The new mouth appears just three days after another fissure opened on the side of the volcano on Thursday and began emitting lava, which ran down the slopes at 600 meters an hour, covering a cemetery and a photovoltaic electricity generating plant.

The flow, which began on Sunday, is moving down the northern slope of the mountain and then turning to the west, prompting fears that it could cause existing lava channels to overflow and cover more of the island's surface area.

The lava has already covered over 1,100 hectares of land on La Palma, destroying around 2,500 buildings, around half of which are homes, leading to the evacuation of around 7,000 people.

The ING also informed of continued seismic activity on the island, with 91 earthquakes detected between midnight and afternoon on Sunday, with 73 of the quakes at a depth between 10-15 kilometers.

These quakes, coupled with a swelling of the crater of around 6 centimeters, imply the volcano's magma chamber is refilling and that the eruption looks set to continue at least in the near future.

Meanwhile, flights resumed at La Palma airport on Saturday and have continued through Sunday after a combination of heavy rain and ash had made flights impossible and caused the airport to be closed. Enditem