Spanish Volcano Erupts After 50 Years

And you thought Hurricanes were bad? 

The Cumbre Vieja Volcano that is located on the Spanish island of La Palma hasn’t erupted in over 50 years. However, that all came to an end this past weekend when the volcano woke up and sent hot lava flowing down the hillsides.

On Sunday, September 19, the volcano that has been asleep since 1971 came to life. Fountains of lava that were almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit flew out of the volcano reaching almost 5,000 feet in the sky.

The bad news for the people of La Palma is that the Cumbre Vieja Volcano doesn’t seem like is it going to stop erupting anytime soon. 

A spokesperson for Spain's National Geographic Institute stated that past eruptions on La Palma have lasted between 24 and 84 days.

 

It is interesting to note that the only reason this island exists in the first place was that the lava helped build the land high adobe the sea waters.

Many people took to social media with the theory that if this volcano erupted then it would create a massive tsunami that would affect much of the United States coastal regions. However, Dave Petley, a landslide expert at the University of Sheffield in England said, "And despite fears swirling on social media sparked by a highly speculative 2001 paper, there’s almost no chance that the Cumbre Vieja eruption could create a mega-tsunami that would slam into America’s eastern seaboard."