Another volcanic eruption on the island of Fernandina
The uninhabited island of Fernandia is once again in the headlines.
On March 3, 2024, the volcano La Cumbre erupted on the Galapagos island of Fernandina. During the eruption, a large eruption fissure opened up in the southern summit area of the shield volcano. The rapidly flowing lava streams poured down the steep flank of La Cumbre towards the coast. As a precaution, the Volcanological Institute in Ecuador warned the population of the neighboring islands of a possible gas cloud.
La Cumbre is a 1476 m high shield volcano with an oval caldera over 5 kilometers in diameter. It is the most active volcano in the Galápagos archipelago and shows typical fissure eruptions within the caldera and along its rim, as well as vents on its flank. It last erupted in 2020 and 2018.
Humans are not normally threatened by eruptions of La Cumbre, but many endemic animals such as marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and Galápagos penguins are.
Other animals of the Fernandina giant tortoise, which was thought to be extinct, are also suspected to be threatened by the lava on Fernandina. A new expedition is planned for this year to search for more turtles, one of which was found alive in 2019. The turtle was christened "Fernanda" and has been living at the Charles Darwin Station's breeding center ever since. Unfortunately, only traces of droppings were found during a previous search expedition in 2022.
