Erupting Cumbre Vieja Volcano Devastates La Palma Island

Evacuating 6,000 people from where they were staying and more than 300 damaged properties - these are the horrifying facts of the terror which has gripped the small Canary Island and Spanish dependency of La Palma and its population of about 86,000, since it was shaken by a volcanic eruption on 19 September.

The last time a volcano erupted on the island was in 1971, when one man reportedly died.

Check out Sputnik's photo gallery to see the ravaging effects the volcano has had.

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Screen grab from a video taken by a night drone shows the volcano erupting and tongues of lava sweeping over La Palma, Canary Island, on 22 September 2021.

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Police officers block a road as lava rises after the eruption of a volcano on the Island of La Palma, Canary Islands.

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Lava flows after the eruption of a volcano in Los Llanos de Aridane, the most populous of La Palma's municipalities.

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Journalists report at the area during a media tour near the volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, on 22 September, 2021. A volcano on a small Spanish island in the Atlantic Ocean erupted on 19 September, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. Experts say the volcanic eruption and its aftermath on a Spanish island could last for up to 84 days. The Canary Island Volcanology Institute said on 22 September it based its calculation on the length of previous eruptions on the archipelago.

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A satellite image shows Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma on 17 September 2021 - two days before the volcano erupted.

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A rural agent helps a resident to collect her belongings from her home on 22 September 2021 in the Todoque neighbourhood in Los Llanos de Aridane. The creeping sea of lava flowing down the slopes of La Palma has destroyed 320 buildings covering more than 154 hectares of land, Europe's volcano observatory said.

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Smoke rises from an erupting volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park at Los Llanos de Aridane, on the Canary Island of La Palma.

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Ana Rodriguez cleans a car after the eruption of a volcano in Los Llanos de Aridane on the Island of La Palma.

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Residents remove their belongings from their houses as lava from a volcano eruption creeps closer and they are evacuated from their village in Los Llanos de Aridane, on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands.

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A house is covered in ash after the eruption of a volcano in Todoque, on the Canary Island of La Palma.

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Dogs are pictured in cages inside a van as people are evacuated after the eruption of a volcano on the Island of La Palma.

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Ash is seen in a watering can and on the ground after the eruption of a volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma.