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La Palma is one of the Canary Islands, which lie in the Atlantic Ocean. The Canary Islands are an autonomous region of Spain. The Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma erupted from the 19th September to the 13th December 2021.

Causes

• The Canary Islands have over 30 volcanoes, 10 of which lie on the island of La Palma.
• The volcanoes are unusual in that they are intraplate. This means that they are located above a ‘hot spot’ rather than along a plate boundary.
• Hot spots occur where columns of superheated magma, or mantle plumes, cause the Earth's crust to melt and become thinner.
• The Canary Island hotspot is located on the African plate, which is estimated to be moving between 2cm to 3cm per year.
• A build-up of magma swelled beneath the ground a week before the first eruption. Warnings were sent out and nearly 7,000 people evacuated the affected areas.

Increased vulnerability – physical factors

• An ‘earthquake swarm’ took place in the days and weeks before the eruption. This consisted of more than 20,000 earthquakes, some of which were sizeable.
• It was feared that the volcano could create a tsunami, which could reach Portugal and western African countries.
• Vigorous lava flows and explosive activity took place over a three-month period in total.

Impacts

• Social - More than 7,000 people had to leave their homes. Over 1,300 homes were destroyed by the lava flow. Many other buildings, such as churches and schools, were damaged or destroyed.
• Economic - Hundreds of acres of farmland, including banana plantations, were destroyed. Flights were cancelled and tourist resorts closed, which affected the local economy.
• Environmental – Vast swathes of forest were destroyed by the lava. However, the molten rock increased the size of the island as it flowed into the ocean.