Spanish Canary Island -La Palma -volcano eruption update

Image credit Japan

Thousands of people including tourists have been evacuated after a volcano erupted on La Palma in the Canary Islands.

Huge red plumes topped with black-and-white smoke shot out along the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge during the eruption on Sunday.

Scientists had been closely watching following the accumulation of molten lava below the surface and days of small earthquakes.

La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of eight volcanic islands in Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast.

More than 5,000 people had already been evacuated last night , but Spain’s Civil Guard said it may need to evacuate up to 10,000 residents.