L’éruption du Tajogaite (Cumbre Vieja) à La Palma, Canaries : de l’éruption volcanique à la crise territoriale

Abstract

On 19 September 2021, the Cumbre Vieja volcano (renamed Tajogaite) erupted on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands). One month after the eruption, a multidisciplinary team conducted an in situ geomorphological, geographical and socio-environmental diagnosis to complement the remote monitoring of the crisis management and impacts of the eruption. The impacts of the lava flows and the ash fallout led to the evacuation of more than 7,000 people, had a heavy and lasting impact on the agricultural and touristic sectors, and imposed a territorial reorganisation. The analysis of the crisis management reveals that the eruption surprised by its location and duration; the island was prepared for an eruptive crisis but not for a long, multiform and multiphase territorial crisis.

Keywords

• vulnerability
• eruption
• damage
• mapping