The Spanish island of La Palma registered a dozen of small earthquakes on Saturday as its volcano continued to rumble.
The National Security Department said the level of activity was similar to the volcanic tremors registered in the first days of the eruption.
According to the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute, a small emission point opened in the volcano’s cone on Saturday.
The volcano had already blew open two more fissures on its cone on Friday. Lava flowed from a new vent in the volcano, which the Canaries Volcanology Institute described as a new “focus of eruption.”
The volcano was experiencing “intense activity,” Miguel Angel Morcuende, director of the Pevolca response committee, told a news conference on Friday. But he also put the eruption into the context of the wider island.
“Less than 8 percent of the island is affected by the volcano. The rest is leading a normal life,” he said.
Authorities advised people to limit time outdoors in parts of La Palma on Saturday.
However, emergency services lifted a stay-home order that had been in effect in Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso, and areas of Tazacorte, places near the volcano that had been affected by poor air quality.
“In response to the improvement in air quality measurements in the area, the lockdown in Tazacorte, El Paso, and Los Llanos de Aridane will be lifted,” the services said in a statement.
They advised people to continue to avoid spending a “prolonged amount of time” outside and said vulnerable groups including children and the elderly should remain indoors.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano began its fiery eruption on Sept. 19 and has destroyed more than 800 buildings. About 6,000 people have been evacuated from their homes on the island, which has a population of about 83,000 and is one of an archipelago making up the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.
