On Saturday, scientists proclaimed the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma to be officially stopped, letting locals to breathe a sigh of relief nearly 100 days after the volcano began spewing lava, rock, and ash and upended the lives of hundreds.
After erupting on September 19, the volcano fell silent on Monday, December 13; however, authorities waited until Christmas Day to proclaim the all-clear, fearful of instilling false hope.
“What I want to say today can be said with just four words: The eruption is over,” Canary Islands regional security chief Julio Perez told a news conference on Saturday.
Lava flowed down the mountainside during the eruption, devouring houses, churches, and many of the island’s banana plantations, which account for about half of the island’s economy. Despite the destruction of property, no one was killed.
All evidence suggested the eruption had run out of energy, according to Maria Jose Blanco, director of the National Geographic Institute on the Canaries, although she did not rule out a future reactivation.
According to the final assessment by the emergency services, lava has destroyed almost 3,000 structures, covering 1,219 hectares – roughly 1,500 soccer fields.
