La Palma Tsunami – Ominous Thunder
New and ominous is not good, and on La Palma, last Friday, the 29th, was a day for both. It was the thunderous sounds of the volcano erupting.
This time, it was no longer a background sound but rather loud enough to drown out the narration.
Like some hellish, last one for the road moment, the island shook with a 5.1 magnitude earthquake later that evening.
Volcanic eruptions are noisy, and earthquakes are common. So, what’s to get into a twist about? What it could portend?
La Palma on the 29th
We’re using a date and time sequence of videos from two local residents reporting on the ongoing eruption, Bushcraft Bear and GutnTog.
I’ve been following Bushcraft Bear closely for weeks, and he is a terrific human barometer because he always describes environmental issues with ash, smoke, haze, noise, and so forth.
On Friday, he was reporting from a Church, roughly six miles north of the volcano, that has become a disaster tourism hotspot. The sound of eruptions was thunderous in an ominous way, as you will see in this report.
Bushcraft Bear October 29, 2021
Nobody believes what is happening here right now. The volcanic eruption is a natural spectacle.
He gave a lot of great information in the report, and of note, this is now considered the most dangerous volcano to have formed on La Palma in the last five centuries.
However, an instrumental part of this particular report is the before and after you get. Bushcraft often appends a pre-recorded Bible reading prayer segment to the end of his reports. This segment begins at 0:6:35, and you hear the actual normal sounds of the island. The difference between the previous eruption noises and this segment is insightful, to say the least.
Later that day, in this second report from the exact location, GutnTog opens with, “Where does this incredible noise come from?” Then, he pushes his camera to its limits.
GutnTog, October 29, 2021
I have never seen so LOUD VOLCANO. Rumbling and roaring volcano noise heard miles around! 29.10Volcano had been very loud today. October 29, 2021.
What is stunning is that he zooms in on the primary vent, and you see the jets of magma rising in sync with the thunderous sound. He also reports a burning smell.
Later that afternoon, after completing this report, GutnTog moved to a second location nearer the volcano.
GutnTog, October 30, 2021
Worst volcano noise ever, before the biggest earthquake (5.1) hits La Palma hours later. 29.10Observing Volcano from Montana Triana in Los Llanos, La Palma. October 29, 2021.
He posted the video very late that evening, and so it was dated for Saturday.
Again, as with Bushcraft Bear, his voice is drowned out by the eruptions, and in this report, the second location gives us a better recording of the sounds of the thunderous eruptions, which are more distinct.
After filming this second report, the island experienced a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, another ominous first-of-a-kind event.
The following day, is what you could say, was all quiet on the western front in the town of Tazacorte, and the island is covered in ash again.
GutnTog, Oct 30, 2021
La Palma: Tazacorte 30.10
A deal of the ash has been swept off the streets before he began filming this report, but you’ll plenty of areas where the ash blankets the ground in a fine layer.
What is particular note is when he says the acid going into his eyes and that it is hard to keep them open. Most telling for me was the ash on the banana plants, which highlights the scope of this economic disaster. Also, it was interesting to note that he could see the sun on Friday but that there was so much ash in the air on Saturday, he could not see the sun.
Summary
In one day, this eruption broke two records. It is the first with a magnitude 5.X and this is the loudest the volcano has ever been.
While the USGS is making light of concerns, this volcano is a rogue and a damn angry one at that.
A concern voiced in previous reports from La Palma is with the second cone that formed. The original cone was blown on the first day and flowed with the magma down the volcano’s flanks in large chunks.
The concern is, if this new cone collapses into the mouth of the primary vent, it could trigger a massive sideways explosion through one or more of the three side vents. The obvious concern is that a sideways event could trigger a slide block outcome.
At this point, all we can do is to watch. As to a tsunami disaster, God only knows for now, but one thing we can expect is that it will happen suddenly or not at all.
WWG1WGA
Category: Earth
