La Palma residents advised to stay home as lava spills into sea

TAZACORTES. KAZINFORM Emergency services in the Canary Islands Wednesday told residents along La Palma's western coast to stay home with their doors and windows shut to avoid inhaling toxic gases that could be released as lava flows into the sea.

The lava flowing from the new volcano that erupted on the Cumbre Vieja ridge 10 days ago reached the sea on Tuesday night. With a temperature of around 1,000 C (1,832F), the molten rock could create a thermal shock and release toxic steam when it comes into contact with the sea, which has a temperature of around 20C, scientists warned.

Upon reaching the seawater, the molten rock has created a deposit 50 meters high and now started to form a lava delta, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography wrote on Twitter Wednesday, EFE reports.