Ten days after violently awakening, a volcano on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion continued spewing lava on Sunday in what experts called "the eruption of the century."
But the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on eastern Reunion had lulled considerably, and residents remained out of danger.
Tourists and residents have been able to take in the sights of the smouldering lava and magma being tossed as high as skyscrapers.
PHOTO: AFP
"We can call it the eruption of the century," said Zacharie Duputel, a seismologist based at the Volcano Observatory on Reunion island. "We have never observed such a phenomenon."
The eruption resulted in the collapse of the volcano's summit, with magma at times being spewed as high as 200m into the air.
The lava had cut off a national highway as it spurted toward the sea at 60kph, creating clouds of gas as it made contact with water. Sulphur dioxide levels in the gas have not been measured at dangerous levels.
Lava flow had been estimated at three million cubic meters per day.
On Sunday, lava leapt only 10m into the air, according to the observatory. There was less activity within the crater, though entire sections of rock continued to collapse.
Some people with memories of damage caused by previous eruptions were not enjoying the show. Eight houses were destroyed by lava in 1986.
About 100 residents were evacuated from a village in southeastern Reunion on Friday, with some believing they could see lava approaching.
They were allowed to return to their homes two hours later, however. What was believed to be lava turned out to be a forest fire caused by burning ashes.
About a dozen families have decided not to return to their homes anyway, said Guy Riviere, deputy mayor for the eastern city of Saint-Philippe and an agent for the Office of National Forests. He said they planned to return home after the volcano's activity reduced further.
While houses have not been affected, residents continue to hear loud rumbling in addition to seeing the burning forested area.
"The atmosphere is gloomy in the village," Riviere said.
About 300 hectares of primary forest has been destroyed over the past 10 days, and some 30 hectares of palm and vanilla plants have burnt. Timber used for cabinet-making that is not found elsewhere on the island was heavily damaged.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS