Volcanic eruption on La Palma: an island has to be re-measured

For two weeks the volcano on La Palma has been spitting fire and ashes. The lava masses created a new headland. This has consequences – for shipping, among other things.

Javier Gonzáles Matesanz stands in front of an elaborate 3D map of the Canary Islands. In other words, a map on which mountains are not only drawn in, but also true to scale. You can feel it. This map is just a year old, says the President of the Spanish Society for Cartography on TVE: “The coast of La Palma has to be repaired on this map. Because a lot has changed here.”

Lava solidifies

Lots of glowing lava flowed into the sea. There it becomes solid immediately, creating a headland. So far it has an area of ​​around 30 hectares, but continues to grow. So La Palma is getting bigger, changing its shape.

Lava has also deposited on the sea floor around the headland, explains expert Gonzáles Matesanz, which leads to shallows: “In the past, a ship might have been able to pass a certain area, but now it is no longer because the sea is less deep there than before the volcanic eruption.”

Roads change too

This information also belongs in maps, at least in maps for shipping. But the volcano is also causing changes on the island itself: the glowing lava destroyed around 1,000 buildings – most of them residential buildings – and made several streets impassable.

“As a result of the new lava flows, names will disappear from the maps, from small towns for example. New names may be added. So cartography is something alive,” said Gonzáles Matesanz.

Further help for residents

What fascinates the expert means a catastrophe for the inhabitants of the volcanic area. Many are left with nothing, have lost their belongings. Around 600 banana farmers watch the lava devastate their plantations. The cultivation of bananas accounts for about half of the island’s economic output and feeds thousands of families.

The Spanish government has already announced aid. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the residents of La Palma yesterday during a visit to a further 207 million euros. In order for the infrastructure, agriculture and drinking water supply to be rebuilt: “On Tuesday the cabinet will decide on this aid package so that the reconstruction of the island can begin quickly. I would also like to call on vacationers who want to travel to La Palma, that further to do. This is a safe place for tourists to enjoy. “

The Foreign Office in Berlin advises against unnecessary trips to La Palma. It cannot be ruled out that other areas will be evacuated – or that the airport will be closed, it said at the weekend. Because the volcano is still ejecting lava and ash.

World maps not affected

The cartographers around Gonzáles Matesanz also have to wait with their work until the volcano calms down again. Only then is it clear by how many hectares La Palma has increased, how the maps must look like.

The experts are already saying this much: world maps do not need to be changed. Its scale is so large that the Canary Islands are again printed in tiny tiny prints. You don’t recognize details like a new headland of La Palma anyway.