The Spanish Navy has started helping farmers on the volcanic island of La Palma to reach their lava-surrounded banana plantations by sea, Spain’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
A scale 5 earthquake overnight offered a reminder that the eruption on the island of 85,000 is continuing strong despite scientists recording lower overall seismic activity levels during the past week, Spain’s National Geographic Institute said.
One of the lava flows descending from the Cumbre Vieja ridge, where the eruption began on Sept. 19, reached the sea and swallowed most of the beach amid plumes of smoke. The molten rock was slowly advancing towards a beach restaurant.
More than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of the island’s surface has been covered by lava and over 7,000 people have been evacuated, with no reported casualties.
Either lava or thick particles of ash raining down have destroyed hundreds of properties, including homes and banana plantations that are the lifeblood of the island’s economy.
