Lava colors sky red

Volcano erupts on uninhabited Galapagos island

(Bild: Galapagos National Park via AP)

The volcano La Cumbre erupted on the uninhabited Galapagos island of Fernandina at the weekend. The population on other islands has not yet been affected. Tourists have been advised to stay away, according to the Ecuadorian authorities.

A "thermal anomaly and gas emissions have been registered", which "indicate the beginning of an eruptive process", explained Ecuador's National Institute of Geophysics. The 1463-metre-high La Cumbre has erupted several times in recent years - most recently in 2020.

According to the Ecuadoran Geophysical Institute, it is not possible to "predict exactly how long the eruption will last". However, the data collected after the last eruption would suggest "that the current eruption will be larger than those in 2017, 2018 and 2020".

Lava colors the night sky red
Lava has erupted from a fissure on the south-eastern flank of the volcano, coloring the night sky over the island red (see video above). With 28 to 30 eruptions since 1800, La Cumbre has "the highest eruption frequency on the Galapagos Islands", according to the website of the National Institute of Geophysics.

The 642 square kilometer island of Fernandina is located in the far west of the Galapagos archipelago. It is the geologically youngest island in the archipelago on the equator and is home to an endemic species of yellow land iguana.

Galapagos is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Galapagos Islands, which belong to Ecuador, are located in the Pacific Ocean and have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978. The archipelago, which lies around a thousand kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, is home to a unique variety of flora and fauna and the largest number of endemic species - i.e. species that only occur in one specific place.