September On the afternoon of 19 September, the Emergency Committee of the General Hospital of La Palma suspended all non-urgent
surgeries, outpatient consultations and patient visits, with exceptions in the latter case, as a preventive measure to guarantee the hospital's capacity to attend in the event that it was required due to the eruption. The hospital resumed normal operations the following day. On the morning of 20 September, the Canarian Ministry of Education ordered the suspension of all classes in the schools of the nearby municipalities of
El Paso,
Los Llanos de Aridane and
Tazacorte. That same morning, direct flights to the island of
La Gomera were suspended, but were restored a few hours later. The day before, the
public company in charge of
civil air navigation and civil airports in Spain,
ENAIRE, together with
Eurocontrol, activated the action procedure for
volcanic ash, but assured the public that
air traffic over the Canary Islands was not affected. On 20 September, around two hundred houses have been destroyed by the flow, according to local authorities. No casualties were reported and flights continued into the islands. In the early afternoon of 21 September, the lava reached the neighborhood of Todoque, in the municipality of Los Llanos de Aridane, with 1,200 inhabitants. At the end of that day, 185 buildings were destroyed, of
arable land were burnt and 5,500 people were evacuated.
Los Campitos public school in Los Llanos de Aridane is among those affected, which was destroyed on Monday 20 September. On 24 September, the eruptive activity intensified, with further ash and volcanic material falling greater distances, forcing
firefighters to withdraw from the neighbourhood of Todoque. Two new vents had opened in the side of the main cone, outpouring lava. Authorities extended the exclusion zone and ordered the evacuation of the neighbourhoods of Tajuya, Tacande de Abajo and Tacande de Arriba in the afternoon. Several civilian airlines suspended flights to the island due to the ash cloud. On 25 September,
Aena, the operator of the
La Palma Airport, suspended all flights due to ash accumulation with cleaning tasks underway. On the same day, a part of the volcano's principal cone collapsed and a new emissive vent opened to the west of the principal cone (or possibly a previous one that had reopened). The new lava flow followed the previous path, although slightly widening in area. was destroyed by the reinvigorated lava flow on 26 September On 26 September, the previously stalled lava flows started again to advance towards the coast, destroying the Todoque neighbourhood
church of Saint Pius X and advancing to the sea at a speed of 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 feet) per hour, mostly on top of the older flow. Meanwhile, the volcano seemed to have entered a more stabilised period after the previous days of more explosive eruptions with a slight fall in seismic activity that took place at deeper depths than before, according to IGN. On 28 September, at around 23:02 local time (22:02
UTC), the lava flow reached the sea at the Beach of Los Guirres, also called New Beach, of the municipality of Tazacorte. The heating of the
seawater to a high temperature might produce
laze containing emissions of
sulfuric,
hydrochloric, and
hydrofluoric acid into the air. Traces of
sulphur dioxide emissions from the volcano had been detected in the upper
stratosphere as far north as
Scandinavia, but the actual impacts of the SO2 emissions on the weather and air quality were said to be globally negligible so far, mostly due to the emitted amounts and their altitude. Earlier on that day, Spain's government classified the island of La Palma as a disaster zone, due to the steadily increasing property and economic damage caused by the eruption, a move that will trigger emergency subsidies and other support measures. on 1 October The lava flow into the sea created a new
lava delta, It was by 2 October. The new land is claimed by the Spanish Government.
October On 1 October, a new vent opened, the third in addition to the main crater. This emitted two streams of lava that cut the important LP2 highway and threatened more of the populated area of Los Llanos de Aridane. On 4 October, the main cone of the volcano collapsed, increasing the lava flow. On 7 October, at 12:17 local time, an earthquake of magnitude 4.3
mbLg was detected on the island at a depth of . This was the strongest earthquake since the start of the eruption. By the end of the day, the lava had covered of land and the lava delta had grown to cover an area of . By 8 October, according to the
Copernicus Emergency Management Service, the lava flow had affected of land and more than 1100 buildings had been destroyed. On 9 October, part of the north face of the volcano collapsed, causing the lava within the crater to spill out. Three new lava streams were formed. on 10 October On 10 October, large chunks of red-hot lava the size of three-storey buildings rolled down and one of the new lava streams reached Callejón de la Gata, an industrial area of Los Llanos de Aridane, and destroyed what was left of the town of
Todoque. By 12 October, the lava flow had covered over . A fire at a cement factory and the risk of lava affecting more factories and warehouses in an industrial area led to the confinement of 3,500 people in El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane, with the northern lava flow around from the sea. A magnitude 4.1 earthquake also occurred at a depth of . On 13 October, the strongest earthquake since the start of the earthquake storm was felt across the island, with magnitude 4.4 at a depth of . The northern lava flow entered La Laguna on 14 October, destroying a football pitch and a supermarket, as well as other buildings. By 15 October, further evacuations of regions that might be affected by the lava flow meant that nearly 7,000 people had been displaced, and the lava flow covered over . A magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred at 4:41am on 16 October, along with a 4.5 earthquake at 6:07am, both at a depth of below Mazo. On 17 October, the advance of the lava flows had slowed. There were plans to rescue five dogs who are trapped in a water tank between lava flows, although it was confirmed that one of them had died. The rescue would involve a specialist company, and the use of drones that usually transport cargo to ships in Gibraltar. By the evening, though, the lava flows reactivated, and it was expected that a second one of them will reach the sea shortly. Another earthquake of magnitude 4.6 occurred below Mazo. Meanwhile, 4,500 children went back to school again for the first time in 30 days, despite the volcanic eruption and COVID-19, with students from Los Campitos and Todoque relocated to a building in Los Llanos. The lava flows have also impacted industrial structures such as cement plants, which have also caused gas clouds and explosions, and have affected flights at
Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport. By 19 October, one month after the start of the eruption, the lava had covered of land, almost 30% of which were banana plantations, 1086 land plots, 1692 buildings and of roads. On 24 October, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurred beneath Mazo at 4:34pm. The total extent of the lava flows had by now covered an area of at least . On 26 October, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake under Mazo was also felt in Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro. The upper main part of the volcano also had a partial collapse, with the resulting lava flow following the previous flows into the sea. , the lava that has flowed from the volcano (on 26 October estimated to be ) has destroyed or affected over 2,100 buildings, over of roads and covered an area of over , with volcanic ash fall covering over within the limits of the monitored area, according to estimates from visual and
radar satellite data by the
Copernicus EMS. On 27 October, the volcano emitted at least of sulphur dioxide gas. The area covered by lava flows had increased to around 963 hectares. On 15 November, a third lava flow reached the sea increasing the island area by a further . Volcanic activity had lessened although the local air quality was still serious. On 25 November, a new fissure opened to the south of the original cone, spewing lava which was less viscous and flowed faster. On 28 November, at 03:00 local time (02:00
UTC), a new fissure opened at the foot of the northeastern flank of the main cone, spewing lava and pyroclastic ash.
December On 12 December, the volcanic eruption broke the local record, when it reached 85 days of continuous activity. The eruption is considered to be the longest known eruption of a volcano on La Palma. Previously, the eruption of the
Tajuya Volcano in 1585 was the longest at 84 days. No reliable data is available about previous volcanic eruptions. On 13 December, the volcano released large amounts of toxic sulphur dioxide gas. As a result, the authorities ordered 30,000 residents of three municipalities to remain indoors. The office of Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island of La Palma was created in 2022 to coordinate and promote the actions adopted by the
General State Administration to repair the damage caused by volcanic eruptions and for the reconstruction of the island of
La Palma.
Hector Izquierdo Triana, born in La Palma and secretary of state for finance at that time, was appointed to the office. On July 31, 2024 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Royal
Order of Civil Merit. ==Map of the affected areas==