西班牙火山熔岩摧毁320栋建筑
文 / 廖慧婷
9/22/2021
（早报讯）欧洲的火山观测所周三（9月22日）表示，西班牙拉帕尔马岛一座火山喷发的熔岩，摧毁了320栋建筑物和超过154公顷的土地。
法新社报道，西班牙拉帕尔马岛一座火山星期天（19日）喷发，熔岩喷向数百公尺高空，至今约有6000人被迫逃离家园。
这座火山位于人烟稀少的卡贝萨德瓦卡地区一处树木繁茂的山坡。炽热的橘红色熔岩流侵入树林与农田，到达地势较低的地面后逐渐散开来。
专家指，若岩浆按照目前的速度流向海岸，很可能将在今天或周四抵达海岸，并警告可能出现爆炸效应。
加那利群岛火山学研究所（Involcan）相信，该座火山喷发的时间可持续“24天至84天”。
拉帕尔马岛是加那利群岛最活跃的火山区之一，过去一星期活动十分频繁。这座火山最近一次大规模喷发是在1971年，当时有一名男子在熔岩流旁拍照时意外死亡。
Volcano lava destroys 320 buildings on Spanish island
By Los Llanos de Aridane (Spain) (AFP)
9/22/2021
The vast wall of molten lava creeping down the slopes of Spain’s La Palma island has destroyed 320 buildings and over 154 hectares of land, Europe’s volcano observatory said Wednesday.
The property damage figure was twice that given 24 hours ago by Copernicus, which uses sky radar imagery to monitor the extent of lava coverage and posted the update on Twitter.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano, which erupted on Sunday, straddles a ridge in the south of La Palma, one of seven islands that make up the Canary Islands, Spain’s Atlantic archipelago which lies off the coast of Morocco.
Experts are expecting the scale of damages to rise in the coming hours as the slow-moving but unstoppable mass of white-hot rock, slides towards the island’s western coast.
“In the last few hours it has slowed down a lot, it is now moving at 300 metres (984 feet) an hour, maybe less, because it is reaching a very flat area but it is gaining height,” David Calvo, an expert with the Involcan volcanology institute, told AFPTV.
“There are areas where it is already 15 metres thick.”
If the lava — which has a temperature of 1,100 degrees Celsius (2,012 degrees Fahrenheit) — continues to move at the same pace, it will reach the sea later on Wednesday or possibly Thursday, he said, warning it would have an explosive effect.
“There will be a huge battle between the water and the lava. With those contrasting temperatures, it causes massive explosions and a fragmentation of the lava which shoots out like missiles.”
The eruption on this island of some 85,000 people, the first in 50 years, has forced some 6,000 people out of their homes, but so far nobody has been injured.
Involcan believes the eruption of La Cumbre Vieja could last “between 24 and 84 days”.
“Dealing with this crisis won’t end when the lava reaches the sea,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.
“It will end when we’ve managed to rebuild everything the volcano has destroyed and will destroy.”
9/22/2021
