This striking satellite photo shows red-hot lava winding into the sea during a volcanic eruption on La Palma in the Canary Islands. The “river of fire” completely wiped out a small town and unleashed plumes of toxic gases, which have plagued the Spanish island for years, locals and experts told Live Science.
On Sept. 19, 2021, after a swarm of more than 22,000 earthquakes in less than a week, a large fissure suddenly opened up above the town of Todoque on the western flank of Cumbre Vieja — a volcanic ridge that runs through the southern half of La Palma — shooting lava fountains hundreds of feet in the air. The effusive eruption, which was the first volcanic outburst on the island since 1971, persisted for 85 days until Dec. 13, according to the Global Volcanism Program at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
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