The emergency in La Palma is still ongoing due to the extensive damage caused by the eruption, said the director of the Canaries’ volcano emergency committee in an announcement of the long-awaited milestone.
“It is not joy or satisfaction. How can we define what we feel?” It is an emotional release. And hope,” Pevolca director Julio Perez said. “Because we are now able to apply ourselves and concentrate completely on the reconstruction work.”
Around 3,000 buildings were destroyed by fiery molten rocks flowing toward the sea. The eruption was not directly responsible for any deaths or injuries.
Perez is also the minister of justice, public administration and security for the archipelago. He stated that the government of the archipelago valued the destruction of buildings and infrastructure at over 900 million euros ($1billion).
In order to declare the volcano’s apparent exhaustion, the volcanologists stated that they had to verify that the three main variables – gas and lava – had subsided for ten days on the Cumbre Vieja Ridge. Previous periods of lower activity that occurred before the eruption began on Sept. 19 were followed by reignitions.
The volcano was silent on the morning of December 14, after having been flaring for 85 days, 8 hours. This made it La Palma’s longest recorded eruption.
Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, called the eruption’s extinction “the best Christmas gift.”
He tweeted, “We will continue to work together, all institutions to relaunch La Palma’s marvelous island and repair the damage.”
Tourism and farming are the two main industries in the Canary Islands. This is a popular tourist destination for Europeans due to its mild climate.
