It’s nature’s show: Video shows vast dunes of ash, volcanic lightning, cascading lava
Tons of ash have fallen on the island of La Palma, Spain, since the Cumbre Vieja volcano began its eruption back in September, according to the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA-CSIC).
A new video shows a wide area of volcanic ash from the current eruption covering up “historical flows” left by a previous eruption in 1949, IPNA-CSIC told Storyful.
Another video shows a bolt of lightning flashing through the ash cloud above the volcano. Spain’s National Geographic Institute, which released the video, described the phenomenon as “volcanic lightning”. Volcanic lightning can occur when particles ejected by the volcano become electrically charged through friction.
Spanish authorities that a magnitude-5 earthquake shook the island on October 31, 2021, as lava continued to pour from the volcano.
Scientists with the European Union’s Copernicus satellite program determined that 2,574 buildings on La Palma have been destroyed since eruptions began on September 19, 2021.
Additional video, published by the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME), shows lava cascading from the volcano on October 31, 2021.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 3:17 PM.
