Around 5,000 people evacuated after lava pours from Canary Islands’ volcano

The eruption began at 3:15 pm (14:15 GMT) on Sunday in the Cumbre Vieja national park and is currently ongoing, local officials said.

The alert level was raised to its highest level—red—due to the eruption.

The volcano previously erupted twice in the 20th century, in 1949 (Volcán San Juan) and again in 1971.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano lies on the southern third of La Palma (Canary Islands) and rises about 2 kilometers above sea level and 6 kilometers above the seafloor.

It is the fastest-growing volcano in the archipelago and thus dangerous in terms of collapses and landslides. (ILKHA)