La Palma Volcano

Updated: Mar 25, 2025 18:37 GMT - refresh

shield volcano

Canary Islands, 28.58°N / -17.84°W

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Summit height: 2426 m

Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)

Last update: 3 Jun 2022

Activity Updates

Eruption of La Palma's Cumbre Vieja in Sep 2021 (image: Tom Pfeiffer)

The 47-km-long wedge-shaped island of La Palma, the NW-most of the Canary Islands, is composed of two large volcanic centers.

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Typical eruption style: effusive
La Palma volcano eruptions: 2021 (Sep - ongoing), 1971, 1949, 1712, 1677-1678, 1646, 1585

Latest nearby earthquakes

Date and Time	Mag / Depth	Distance / Location
Mar 25, 08:38 am (Universal Time)	1.2 10 km	12 km (7.4 mi) to the NW	NW Tazacorte.Ilp	Info
Monday, March 24, 2025 GMT (3 quakes)
Mar 24, 03:18 am (Universal Time)	1.6 15 km	1.8 km (1.1 mi) to the SW	12 km southeast of Los Llanos de Aridane, Spain	Info
Mar 24, 02:52 am (Universal Time)	2.0 15 km	3.5 km (2.2 mi) to the SW	Spain: N Fuencaliente DE LA Palma.Ilp	Info
Mar 24, 02:25 am (Universal Time)	1.3 3 km	6.1 km (3.8 mi) to the NW	Spain: S EL Paso.Ilp	Info
Sunday, March 23, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Mar 23, 07:28 am (Universal Time)	1.9 22 km	13 km (8.2 mi) to the W	SW Tazacorte.Ilp	Info
Friday, March 21, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Mar 21, 01:16 am (Universal Time)	1.4 8 km	1.6 km (1 mi) to the N	W Villa DE Mazo.Ilp	Info
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Mar 18, 07:17 am (Universal Time)	1.2 8 km	7.5 km (4.7 mi) to the NW	SE Tazacorte.Ilp	Info
Friday, March 14, 2025 GMT (5 quakes)
Mar 14, 02:13 pm (Universal Time)	2.1 12 km	3.9 km (2.4 mi) to the SW	13 km southeast of Los Llanos de Aridane, Spain	Info
Mar 14, 08:03 am (Universal Time)	2.6 10 km	3.5 km (2.2 mi) to the SW	13 km southeast of Los Llanos de Aridane, Spain	Info

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Background

The older 2426-m-high northern one is cut by the massive steep-walled Caldera Taburiente, one of several massive collapse scarps produced by edifice failure to the SW. The younger 1949-m-high Cumbre Vieja, the southern volcano, is one of the most active in the Canaries. The elongated volcano dates back to about 125,000 years ago and is oriented N-S. Eruptions during the past 7000 years have originated from the abundant cinder cones and craters along the axis of Cumbre Vieja, producing fissure-fed lava flows that descend steeply to the sea. Historical eruptions at La Palma, recorded since the 15th century, have produced mild explosive activity and lava flows that damaged populated areas. The southern tip of the island is mantled by a broad lava field produced during the 1677-1678 eruption. Lava flows also reached the sea in 1585, 1646, 1712, 1949, and 1971.

La Palma Volcano Photos

Teneguia volcano, view from San Antonio v., Fuencaliente, La Palma Isl., Canaries (Photo: WNomad)

Volcanic cone of Los volcanes de Aridane, next of town Todoque, La Palma Isl. (Photo: WNomad)

Lava field and volcanic cones near Los Llanos, La Palma Isl. (Photo: WNomad)

Crater of San Antonio volcano, Fuencaliente, La Palma Isl., Canaries (Photo: WNomad)

More photos

Significant volcanic eruptions: La Palma volcano

In the past 10,000 years, La Palma has had at least 14 confirmed volcanic eruptions, out of which 8 are documented by historical records, while the others can be inferred from geological evidence.

The table below lists all known eruptions (date in bold face) of La Palma volcano in historic times and during the past 10,000 years. Updates on the most recent volcanic activity of La Palma can be found on the news page of La Palma volcano.

Date	Note	VEI	Deaths	Damage
2021 Sep 19 - Dec 13	Tajogaite eruption Historical obs./docs.	3
2021 Sep 19 (eruption 2021 Sep 19 - Dec 13)	Historical obs./docs.	3	1	very heavy	Info
2021 Sep 19: January 2023 - The body of a 72-year-old man was found in November 2021 in the municipality of El Paso in an exclusion zone, an area that was off limits to the public without express permission due to the eruption. A court in the Canary Islands determined that the autopsy confirmed the man "died after inhaling toxic gases, which certifies that the disaster did claim a human life". (reference #13407) December 25: According to the Cadastre, the data on homes and buildings affected have been placed at 1,676, of which 1,345 are for residential use, 180 for agricultural use, 75 for industrial buildings, 44 for leisure and hospitality buildings, 16 for public and the remaining 16 for other uses. Meanwhile, the Copernicus satellite puts 2,988 buildings destroyed and 138 buildings damaged. The final data will be obtained once these numbers can be filtered and compared with the damage in place. The hectares of crops affected have been 370, most of them being bananas, with 228.69. The vineyards, with 68.05 hectares, and the avocados, with 27.43 hectares, have been the other most damaged plantations. To these data must be added 90 hectares of isolated crops. In addition, 412 hectares of banana trees have been covered by ashes, while 128 have been vineyards and 84 avocados. (reference #13131) November 14: The area affected by the volcanic eruption reaches 1,019.79 hectares. According to the data provided by the Cadastre, to date 1,460 buildings have been affected, of which 1,181 are for residential use, 150 for agricultural use, 67 for industrial use, 34 for leisure and hospitality, 13 for public use and 15 of other uses. (reference #13083) October 6: The area affected by the eruption reached 421.93 hectares. 93.4 hectares of crops have been affected, mainly banana trees (35.6 ha.), vineyards (32.9 ha.) and avocados (6 , 7 ha.). (reference #13062) Sept 29: The Copernicus Emergency Management Service revealed the molten rock had destroyed 656 homes and stretched across an area of 267 hectares. (reference #13059) Sept 21: The lava flow from the volcano that erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma has destroyed 166 houses and scorched 225 acres (103 hectares) of land as it inches its way toward the ocean, the EU’s Copernicus Earth Monitoring Service said Tuesday. (reference #13054) Sept 20: The lava left black swathes of destruction through the sparsely populated, green countryside and destroyed around 100 houses, officials said. (reference #13052) Cited references #1250 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) (2001): EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, link #13052 Associated Press (2021): Lava from Spanish volcano heads toward sea; no injuries. Published 20 September 2021. Link #13054 EFE News Agency (2021): Lava from La Palma volcanic eruption devours scores of houses. Published 21 September 2021. Link #13059 Euro News (2021): La Palma volcano: How satellite imagery is helping us understand the eruption. Published 29 September 2021. Link #13062 Canary Islands Government (2021): The flows remain stable and a lava tube connects the emitting center with the sea. Published 6 October 2021. Link #13083 Canary Islands Government (2021): The lava continues to reach the sea without overflowing the perimeter already affected. Published 14 November 2021. Link #13131 Canary Islands Government (2021): The eruption of La Palma is declared over after 85 days and 8 hours of duration and 1,219 hectares of lava flows. Published 25 December 2021. Link #13407 AFP (2023): Spain confirms first death from 2021 volcano eruption. Published 2 January 2023. Link Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1971 Oct 26 - Nov 18	Teneguia Historical obs./docs.	2
1971 Oct 28 (eruption 1971 Oct 26 - Nov 18)	Historical obs./docs.	2	1-50 (*)	light	Info
1971 Oct 28: Casualties occurred but very little damage reported. (reference #9675) Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1949 Jun 24 - Jul 30	San Juan, Llano del Banco, Hoyo Negro Historical obs./docs.	2?
1712 Oct 9 - Dec 3	El Charco Historical obs./docs.	2
1677 AD Nov 17 - 1678 Jan 21	N & S flanks of San Antonio (Fuentecaliente) Historical obs./docs.	2
1677 AD Nov 22 (eruption 1677 AD Nov 17 - 1678 Jan 21)	Historical obs./docs.	2	1		Info
1677 AD Nov 22: Gas killed one man and many animals. Johnston-Lavis gives date as 1678 and deaths from "mephitic vapours". (reference #9675) Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1646 AD Oct 2 - Dec 21	South flank of San Martín (Tigalate) Historical obs./docs.	2
1585 AD May 19 - Aug 10	Tahuya Historical obs./docs.	2
1481 ±11 y. AD	Tacande (Montaña Quemada) Historical obs./docs.	2
900 ±100 y. AD	Nambroque II-Malforada	?
360 ±50 y. BC	El Fraile	?
1320 ±100 y. BC	La Fajana (Volcán Fuego)	?
4050 ±3000 y. BC	L'Amendrita, Birigoyo	?
4900 ±50 y. BC		?
6050 ±1500 y. BC		?

(*) Estimated numbers

Remark:

Our list of volcanic eruptions closely follows the database of eruptions of the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Project (GVP), the internationally most recognized data source for volcanic eruptions, but also includes significant eruptive episodes or related volcano events. "Volcanic eruptions" are usually to be understood as sequences of individual eruptive episodes that can follow each other, or even overlap (if several vents are involved), and can last many years, decades or even longer. For example, the current activity of Stromboli volcano is understood as a single eruption that has been ongoing since 1934.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K | Global Volcanism Project / Smithsonian Institution

La Palma Volcano FAQ

+When was the last eruption of La Palma volcano?

The last confirmed eruption of La Palma occurred in 2021.

+How often does La Palma volcano erupt?

Since 1481 AD, La Palma volcano has had at least 8 historically documented eruptions. This means that it erupts on average every 68 years.

+How active is La Palma volcano at present?

La Palma volcano is occasionally active: Since 1900, it has had 3 eruptions, and been active during 3 years out of 126 as of now. This means, La Palma has been in eruption one in 42 years on average. The last eruption was in 2021 and ended 3 years ago.

+When was the largest eruption of La Palma volcano?

The largest eruption of La Palma volcano in historic times occurred in 2021. It ranks as a "vulcanian" eruption with a magnitude 3 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) scale.

Latest satellite images

See also: Sentinel hub | Landsat 8 | NASA FIRMS

Latest satellite images

La Palma Volcano Tours

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La Palma Volcano Maps

Below is a selection of maps showing the location and surroundings of the volcano at various resolutions based on aerial-imagery / terrain maps. Feel free to use them for non-commercial purposes on your blog or website as long as you credit them with a link back to this page (click to copy it).