Week 5: Volcanic Hazards

     Spain has volcanic activity, particularly located in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands have active volcanoes, including the Teide on Tenerife and Cumbre Vieja on La Palma. Spain's mainland also has a few volcanic regions such as the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone in Catalonia, though these are mostly dormant. 

    According to BBC News, they made a post on December 25, 2021, titled "Spain's La Palma Volcano Eruption Declared Over After Three Months". The post discusses the Cumbre Vieja volcano that erupted on 19 September causing the destruction of more than 3,000 properties as well as hundreds of acres of farmland located on the Canary Islands, this led to more than 7,000 people being forced to leave their homes due to the lava closing in on them. The VEI of this volcano was 3 and is also a stratovolcano making it dangerous due to it being considered as one of the most active volcanos in the Canary Islands. This eruption was the first eruption on La Palma to take place since 1971 and it was the longest-ever recorded on the Island. Thankfully there were no injuries or deaths, but there were more than 1,300 homes, churches, schools, and swathes of banana plantations that had been destroyed.

    Spain has several measures put out to prevent and mitigate volcanic activity hazards. These key measures include systems like The National Geographic Institute (IGN) and other organizations that are continuously monitoring seismic activity, gas emissions, and ground deformation. Another key measure is emergency preparedness plans which local governments have developed for emergency response like evacuation routes, shelters, and communication strategies. A few more are public awareness campaigns, research and risk assessments, land use planning, and inter-agency coordination.

I also found another great source that gives a more in-depth report about this volcanic activity which I will link below.

source



Comments

  1. Andrea's BlogSeptember 22, 2024 at 9:19 PM

    Hey Ashlynn,
    It was interesting to learn about your country's volcanic activity, as I honestly dont know much about Spain. I never knew Spain had volcanic activity, let alone volcanoes, so I found this to be really cool. I appreciated that you included details on what went on during this hazard as well as what is done to keep everyone safe.Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ana GGSeptember 23, 2024 at 8:38 AM

    This was a very interesting read!

    ReplyDelete

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