SPACE RACE 2.0

From spy satellites to mobile networks, S.Korea hopes new rocket gets space program off ground

Reuters
October 15, 2021


By Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea plans to test its first domestically produced space launch vehicle next week, a major step toward jumpstarting the country’s space programme and achieving ambitious goals in 6G networks, spy satellites, and even lunar probes.

If all goes well, the three-stage NURI rocket, designed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) to eventually put 1.5-ton payloads into orbit 600 to 800km above the Earth, will carry a dummy satellite into space on Thursday.

South Korea’s last such booster, launched in 2013 after multiple delays and several failed tests, was jointly developed with Russia.

The new KSLV-II NURI has solely Korean rocket technologies, and is the country's first domestically built space launch vehicle, said Han Sang-yeop, director of KARI's Launcher Reliability Safety Quality Assurance Division.

"Having its own launch vehicle gives a country the flexibility of payload types and launch schedule," he told Reuters in an email.

MILITARY AND CIVILIAN BENEFITS

It also gives the country more control over “confidential payloads” it may want to send into orbit, Han said.

That will be important for South Korea’s plans to launch surveillance satellites into orbit, in what national security officials have called a constellation of “unblinking eyes” to monitor North Korea.

So far, South Korea has remained almost totally reliant on the United States for satellite intelligence on its northern neighbour.

In 2020 a Falcon 9 rocket from the U.S. firm Space X carried South Korea’s first dedicated military communications satellite into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NURI is also key to South Korean plans to eventually build a Korean satellite-based navigation system and a 6G communications network.

“The program is designed not only to support government projects, but also commercial activity,” Oh Seung-hyub, director of the Launcher Propulsion System Development Division, told a briefing on Tuesday.

South Korea is working with the United States on a lunar orbiter, and hopes to land a probe on the moon by 2030.

TRIAL LAUNCH

Given problems with previous launches, Han and other planners said they have prepared for the worst.

The launch day may be changed at the last minute if weather or technical problems arise; the craft will carry a self-destruct mechanism to destroy it if it appears it won’t reach orbit; and media won’t be allowed to observe the test directly.

At least four test launches are planned before the rocket will be considered reliable enough to carry a real payload.

According to pre-launch briefing slides, the rocket’s planned path will take it southeast from its launch site on the south coast of the Korean peninsula, threading its way over the ocean on a trajectory aimed at avoiding flying over Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other major land masses.

"This upcoming launch may be remembered as the hope and achievement of Korean rocketry historically no matter the launch is successful or not," Han told Reuters.

SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGY

Space rockets on the Korean peninsula have been fraught with concerns over their potential use for military purposes, leaving South Korea’s efforts lagging more capable programmes in China and Japan.

"Modern rocketry in Korea couldn't devote its capability much in R&D of rockets because of long-standing political issues," Han said.

The United States has viewed North Korea’s own satellite launch vehicles as testbeds for nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile technology. A North Korean space launch in 2012 helped lead to the breakdown of a deal with the United States.

"North Korea, of course, will not look favourably on South Korea’s rapidly advancing space capabilities, which are far more technologically advanced than those possessed by the North," said James Clay Moltz, a space systems expert at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

South Korea’s push into space comes as it speeds ahead with its own military ballistic missile systems after agreeing with the United States this year to end all bilateral restrictions on them.

"There is no concern on military applications in NURI launch vehicle development," said Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea Aerospace University. Unlike the liquid-fuelled NURI, South Korea’s military missiles use solid fuel, which is better for weapons, he added.

South Korea is not seen as a "threat" by either Russia or China, so it seems unlikely to affect their space programs, which are already highly militarized, Moltz said.

"Many space launch technologies are inherently dual-use," he said, but noted that he hopes NURI’s development will "not lead to an arms race in space, but instead a safer ‘information race’" where South Korea has better intelligence to head off any future crisis.

(Reporting by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Orbital outpost’s orientation restored after brief fault, crew not in danger — space firm

The station’s orientation was impacted in the course of testing the thrusters of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. The International Space Station (ISS) has restored its normal position after it briefly moved out of its orientation testing the engines of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft and the crew is not in danger, the Energia Space Rocket Corporation (part of Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos) told TASS on Friday.

"In the course of testing the thrusters of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, the station’s orientation was impacted. As a result, the ISS temporarily moved out of its orientation," Energia said.

The orbital outpost’s orientation was promptly restored by the staff of the ISS Russian Segment’s main flight control group, the space rocket corporation specified.

"The station and the crew are not endangered," it stressed.

Currently, 10 crewmembers are working aboard the ISS: Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.

Three of the crewmembers, Novitsky, Peresild and Shipenko, will come back to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on October 17.

GUESS WHO

Fox News host unleashes homophobic attack on Pete Buttigieg

David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
October 15, 2021

Des Moines, Iowa - September 21, 2019: Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate, speaks to the crowd at a political rally.

New dads in Japan can take 35 weeks off with full pay for paternity leave. Spain's news dads? 12 weeks full pay. Sweden: 11 weeks. Iceland's new fathers get 11 weeks of full paid time off. Canadian new dads get between five and eight weeks. In the U.S., no federal law requires paid paternity leave, although the Family and Medical Leave Act allows unpaid time off.

Unlike 86 percent of Americans who support paid paternity leave, Fox News personality and fascism and white supremacism promoter Tucker Carlson opposes it, apparently, and made that crystal clear in the form of a homophobic attack against U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg Thursday night.

That attack was so broad and so ugly it extends to every man who takes paternity leave, which is unfortunate given that studies show men who take paternity leave are less likely to get divorced, among other long-term benefits.

"Pete Buttigieg has been on leave from his job since August after adopting a child. Paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed – no word on how that went," Carlson said, mocking new dads, fathers in general, men who take paternity leave, and gay fathers.

U.N. deal offers no guarantees of free movement for Rohingya on island: leaked copy




October 15, 2021
By Poppy McPherson

(Reuters) - A deal for the United Nations to start work on a remote Bangladeshi island where the government has sent thousands of Rohingya refugees offers no guarantee they will be allowed to move freely to the mainland, according to a copy of the agreement.

The Bangladesh government has moved nearly 19,000 Rohingya refugees, members of a persecuted mostly Muslim minority from Myanmar, to Bhasan Char island from border camps, despite protests by refugees and opposition from rights groups, who have likened it to an island jail and said some relocations were involuntary.

Refugees have called for freedom of movement between the remote and floodprone island, several hours off the coast, and the sprawling mainland camps near the port town of Cox’s Bazar, while dozens have died in recent months attempting to flee on rickety boats.

The U.N refugee agency, which had previously refused to provide humanitarian services on Bhasan Char until assessments were completed, did not respond to request for comment on why the deal, signed in early October, had not been made public or its contents.

In an Oct. 9 statement, the agency said the agreement covered “key areas of protection, education, skills-training, livelihoods and health, which will help support the refugees to lead decent lives on the island and better prepare them for sustainable return to Myanmar in the future”.

Bangladesh government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

A leaked copy of the deal seen by Reuters says the United Nations would be “permitted unhindered access” to the population and further relocations would be voluntary. But it says any travel between the island and mainland would be on an “as needs” basis, the precise details of which would be determined between the United Nations and Bangladesh.

They can “move on and within Bhasan Char for their daily activities”, it says.

The deal refers to Rohingya as "forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals/refugees", reflecting the refusal of Bangladesh, which is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, to confer refugee status on the group.

In a statement on Friday, the non-profit organisation Fortify Rights, which said it had examined the agreement, called on the United Nations and Bangladesh to revise it to include freedom of movement to the mainland.

“UNHCR’s lifesaving services are essential and needed on the island, but the agency must ensure it is not propping up a refugee prison with this agreement,” said the group's regional director, Ismail Wolff.

More than a million Rohingya live in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar, the vast majority in 2017 after a military crackdown that included mass killings and gang rapes and which the United Nations said was carried out with genocidal intent.

Myanmar denies genocide, saying it was conducting a legitimate campaign against insurgents who attacked police posts.

(Reporting by Poppy Elena McPherson; Editing by Robert Birsel)

POPULAR FRONTISM

Germany's SPD, Greens, Liberals announce initial deal for next govt

Issued on: 15/10/2021 

Olaf Scholz said he believed 'a new beginning is possible' 

Odd ANDERSEN AFP/File

Berlin (AFP)

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz took a step closer to succeeding Angela Merkel as chancellor, as his Social Democrats, the ecologist Greens and liberal FDP on Friday announced a preliminary deal to form a new government.

The three parties have been holding talks since Scholz's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) won the general elections on September 26 with Merkel's conservatives in second place as she prepares to leave politics.

"Overall, we can sense here that a new beginning is possible, brought about by the three parties that have come together here," Scholz told reporters.

"We have agreed on a text from the exploratory talks," he said, adding that this "is a very good result that clearly shows that a government that aims to ensure we achieve progress can be formed in Germany."

Greens co-leader Annalena Baerbock said the initial agreement heralds a "coalition of progress" to "really use the next decade as a decade of renewal".

The agreement that will form the basis of formal coalition talks all but means that Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance is headed for the opposition benches after scoring their worst post-war election result.

CDU leader and chancellor hopeful Armin Laschet had recently said his party remains open to forming a governing coalition, but even his own job is hanging on a thread.

Facing their worst crisis in decades, the conservatives are planning a clean sweep of their leadership, with a congress by December to elect their new bosses.

Scholz, who is also Merkel's vice chancellor, this week voiced confidence that the three-way talks involving his party will produce Germany's next government before Christmas.

A coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP -- known as "traffic-light" after the three parties' red, green and yellow colours -- has found favour with Germans, with 62 percent approving the constellation as the next federal government, according to a poll published Friday.

Scholz's approval rating was even higher, as three in four say it was "good" for him to become chancellor.

- 'More difficult?' -

The imminent shift in Germany's leadership to the centre-left comes as Europe's biggest economy is grappling with the complex challenge of securing the country's post-pandemic recovery.

Serious shortages in raw materials and components are already crimping growth, with factories of Germany's vital automotive industry idled because of the supply issues.

While industry is urging state support to continue, a planned zero-emissions target by 2045 will require huge investments including building more sustainable energy capacity and greener transport options.

Through the formal negotiations, the Greens and the pro-business FDP will have to see if they can bridge their differences on issues including climate protection, taxation and public spending.

But both parties have said they want to "build bridges" in order to govern.

All sides are eager to avoid a repeat of the 2017 election aftermath, when the FDP dramatically walked out of coalition talks with the conservatives and the Greens and it took months for a new government to take shape.

Analysts believe that as compromises are found between the parties, Germany is unlikely to see a sharp lurch to the left.

Scholz has after all been Merkel's finance minister and has repeatedly said he adheres to Germany's no-new-debt rule.

Berenberg Bank's analyst Holger Schmieding said it may in fact be "more difficult under Scholz" than under a CDU-led coalition to obtain potential changes in German and European rules or additional German fiscal commitments in Europe.

"As finance minister since March 2018, Scholz has already shaped the German fiscal stance and its position in EU negotiations to a significant extent. Do not expect a sea change from his potential move into the chancellor's office," wrote Schmieding.

Rather, Germany will likely continue on its "gradual shift towards a flexible interpretation of rules, more spending at home and in Europe and more investment into the green and digital transformation, infrastructure and health care."

© 2021 AFP

From Covid to cancer: High hopes for 'versatile' mRNA

Issued on: 15/10/2021 - 

While Covid-19 jabs are new researchers have been working on messenger RNA technology for decades 

Thomas Lohnes AFP/File

Paris (AFP)

The coronavirus pandemic has made vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and the mRNA technology that they use into household names.

These types of jabs are new but researchers have been working for decades to try to figure out how to use messenger RNA for other vaccinations and to treat illnesses from AIDS to cancer.

- How does it work? -

Messenger RNA's job in the body is to help deliver specific instructions from DNA to cells.

In the case of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna jabs, lab-generated mRNA tells human cells to create antigens -- proteins that are similar to ones found in the Covid-19 virus.

Thanks to those antigens, a person's immune system learns how to fight the virus and neutralise Covid if it enters the body.

After the cells create these proteins, the body breaks down the mRNA instructions and gets rid of them.

Such direct communication with cells is revolutionary -- classic vaccines aimed to provoke an immune response by injecting a neutralised form of a virus or antigens into the system.

- Where did this come from? -

The first big breakthrough, in the late 1970s, was in using mRNA to make test-tube cells produce proteins.

A decade later, scientists were able to get the same results in mice, but mRNA still had two major drawbacks as a medical tool.

For one thing, cells in live animals resisted synthetic mRNA, provoking a dangerous immune response.

On top of that, mRNA molecules are fragile, making them difficult to deliver to the system without altering them.

In 2005 researchers Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman of Penn State University published a groundbreaking study showing that a lipid -- or fat molecule -- envelope could safely deliver mRNA without negative effects.

The research caused a buzz in the pharmaceutical community and start-ups dedicated to mRNA therapies began to pop up around the world.

- What else can mRNA do? -

Scientists have worked on developing mRNA jabs for illnesses like seasonal flu, rabies and Zika, as well as those that have remained vaccine-resistant until now, including malaria and AIDS.

Researchers have also started testing personalised treatments on cancer patients, using samples of the proteins in their tumours to create specialised mRNA.

This then triggers the immune system to target specific cancer cells.

"The mRNA platform is versatile," University of Pennsylvania biochemist Norbert Pardi told AFP, "any protein can be encoded as mRNA so there are many potential applications."

© 2021 AFP

GOP USES THE STATE TO RESTRICT

Bill restricting trans student’s involvement in sport passed by Texas House

BY CONOR CLARK

GAYTIMES UK


The Texas House passed a bill preventing transgender students from playing on sports teams based on their gender identities.

On 14 October, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in the state passed the bill by a vote of 76 to 54.

House Bill 25 will force trans students to play on school athletic teams that align with the gender listed on their birth certificates as opposed to how they identify now.

An array of Texan businesses including Amazon and American Airlines signed a letter opposing what it noted are efforts to exclude trans students from getting involved in community activities.

Despite this, Valoree Swanson, a Republican in favour of the bill, claims it will protect girls who take part in sports in school.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said that despite the setback, it will continue fighting for the rights of trans people by challenging similar bills alongside this one.

“BREAKING: The Texas House just voted to discriminate against trans kids and exclude them from playing sports as their authentic selves,” the organisation wrote on Twitter.

“For months, trans kids and advocates have been fighting against bills like HB 25. That fight doesn’t end tonight. #TransPeopleBelong.”


North Carolina Lt. Governor refuses to step down after calling LGBTQ+ people “filth”

The University Interscholastic League, which oversees K-12 public school sports in the state, determines gender through birth certificates – though amended ones are formally recognised.

NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin reports that there have been no complaints filed with the organisation over trans students competing in girls’ sports.

Nonetheless, House Bill 25’s Republican co-author, Stephanie Klick, said fairness to girls is her main priority.

Now that it has been approved by the House, it will next move to the Senate.

UK

Low pay, long hours, high pressure: what it’s really like to be an HGV driver

October 15, 2021 

A shortage of lorry drivers in the UK has been blamed for queues at petrol stations and warnings of supermarket shortages. As a result, some companies have reportedly been trying to attract drivers with signing up bonuses and substantial pay rises.

But what is the job really like?

Driving long distances carrying vital supplies may sound appealing to those who like the idea of solitude and being on the move. Yet our recent report highlights serious concerns from drivers about their work.

We analysed hundreds of messages from online discussion forums and interviewed drivers to investigate the reality of life on the road in a HGV.

We often saw discontentment about a lack of work-life balance, long, unpredictable hours and low pay. There were also worries about relationships with management and work pressures.

The apparent shortage of drivers has seemingly done little to provide those who drive HGVs with any power or leverage. Describing the culture in the industry, one person said: “Drivers have their place. They can’t complain, they can’t do anything.”

And many took issue with claims of a shortage in the first place. One explained:

It’s a lie to get more people in so the hourly rate can go lower. It’s a con. If there’s a shortage of drivers, every company would be fighting for drivers [with offers of better pay]. It’s not happening.

Another agreed, saying the situation “forces drivers to compete amongst themselves” because some employers offer such low wages. The implied message was, according to this driver: “If you don’t want to work for this money, we’ll find other people who do.”

Commenting on the competition for work, another admitted:

I’m doing all sorts of strange shifts because if I don’t do it someone else will get my shifts. I’ll go to work and drive even if I feel like I haven’t slept enough.

One participant who agreed there were shortages offered this explanation: “There’s a shortage of drivers because the industry is living in the past. Look at the way people are treated. People are leaving right away.”

The treatment of drivers came up frequently in our study, which revealed displeasure with high levels of surveillance and scrutiny. As well as tachographs, which monitor routes and journey times, many lorries have cameras fitted which film both the exterior of the vehicle and the interior of the driver’s cabin. While these devices can ensure legal driving hours are not exceeded and record accidents on the road, many felt they were used as tools of micro-management.

One explained

The route is analysed to the nth degree by somebody sitting in an office. Why did you turn left at that junction and why didn’t you go straight on? Why have you done this, why have you gone that way, why were you late getting there?

Another said: “What makes this job miserable is that I feel like I’m always being watched.”
Breakdowns

Others complained that the unpredictable shifts and long hours were incompatible with any kind of work-life balance.

One commented: “We don’t have a social life. Most lorry drivers are the same. They’re either working away all week or they work very long hours during the day so when they get home, they’re too tired to do anything else.”

Another said of drivers: “Their marriages are breaking down, their relationships are breaking down. A lot of them don’t see their children or their grandchildren.”

One told us how he was missing out on his children’s development, saying:

I don’t go to no parents evenings, I don’t go to no Christmas shows, no plays. I don’t see nothing. I don’t pick the kids up from school.

Concerns around pay were common. As the sector is highly competitive with low profit margins, many workers believed that wages are kept low to reduce overall costs.

One argued that there were plenty drivers with licences who chose not to work in the sector, saying: “We’re not 50,000 drivers short. We’re actually short of 50,000 people that want to work at minimum wage. They’re just fed up with it.”

While our report reflects personal experiences and perspectives, it also provides an insight into the reality of working in a sector that effects all consumers. While Brexit and COVID-19 may have fuelled the driver shortage, there are deeper underlying problems which need to be addressed.

HGV drivers are a vital part of the economy, and more needs to be done to ensure they are supported. This starts with listening to workers’ experiences and concerns. As one driver remarked: “Government investment in overseeing the health and welfare of the industry itself is non-existent. They don’t take the trouble to go and speak to drivers – nobody does.”

Author

Akilah Jardine
Visiting Fellow in Antislavery Business, University of Nottingham
Disclosure statement
This research was funded by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK.
Partners

School cleaners and cooks are set to join refuse workers on strike in Glasgow during COP26 over a pay dispute.

By Tom Eden
Friday, 15th October 2021

Cleansing workers and schools support staff who are members of the GMB union voted in favour of industrial action that could disrupt the climate summit starting next month.

A total of 1,500 Glasgow City Council staff in the refuse, cleansing, school janitorial and catering sectors could strike because of the ongoing pay dispute, with 96.9 per cent of returned ballots backing industrial action.

School cooks may be set to join strike action

GMB members rejected a £850-a-year increase for staff earning up to £25,000 a year from local authority umbrella body Cosla, with the union – along with Unison and Unite – all calling for a £2,000 pay rise.

Cosla said negotiations are ongoing.

GMB Glasgow organiser, Chris Mitchell, said: “Over the past 18 months throughout this awful pandemic, essential services across Scotland have been held together by an army of low paid workers.

“We were called key workers, even Covid heroes, but while politicians were happy to applaud us on Thursday nights, they’ve never put their hands in their pockets to pay us properly.

“The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow during COP26, and our politicians now have a choice – will they fairly reward the frontline workers who got the country through the pandemic, or will they risk embarrassing the city and the country on an international stage?

“The message that our members have sent with this ballot result is clear. We are taking a stand for what we deserve, and we believe the people will stand with us.”

The call for industrial action comes after Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken was criticised for saying the city needs a “spruce up” before the COP26 conference.

Her comments received a backlash from politicians and members of the public who claimed she was “out of touch” with the city.

A Cosla spokesman said: “We appreciate everything that Local Government workers have been doing, and continue to do, to support people and communities during the pandemic and as we begin to recover.

“We continue with ongoing, constructive negotiations.”

Rail workers will also go on strike during COP26, the RMT union confirmed on Thursday, over a separate dispute over pay and conditions.

ScotRail staff will strike from Monday November 1 until Friday November 12.

Staff on the Caledonian Sleeper will hold two 24-hour strikes: one from 11.59am on Sunday October 31 and one on Thursday November 11, also from 11.59am.

Life-saving drones deliver food to dogs stranded by La Palma volcano lava

By Adam Douty, Accuweather.com

A lava delta formed from the La Palma volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands is seen on September 29. Photo Courtesy Spanish Oceanographic Institue/TWITTER

Oct. 15 -- Eruptions of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands have destroyed large swaths of the region, leaving vast amounts of lava and ash on the ground since the middle of September. In the past month, one species of island residents had been neglected until recently -- the canines.

In the town of Todoque, several malnourished dogs were recently found roaming a walled-in yard that has been covered in ash. Due to the surrounding lava flow, reaching the hungry pups was impossible -- until two local companies stepped in with life-saving drones.

The companies, Ticom Soluciones and Volcanic Life, have used the drones to drop food and water to the dogs since last weekend, and say they will continue to feed the dogs as long as meteorological conditions allow.

On its way to the Atlantic Ocean, the lava flow has destroyed everything in its path but spared a few areas by creating "islands" of land that remain relatively unharmed.


La Palma's councilor of security and emergencies, Nieves Rosa Arroyo, said authorities became aware of the situation of the animals last week and subsequently commissioned the companies to help, according to Newsweek.

In order to fly the drones, visibility must be good enough for the drone pilots to safely drop the packages. High winds could also keep the drones from being able to fly.

AccuWeather meteorologists expect tranquil weather to be in place across the island into at least early next week, so it appears as if the drones will be able to continue delivering food and water to the dogs.

Lava flows from the Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma on the Canary Islands on September 28. Photo by Angel Medina/EPA-EFE

RELATED Experts say La Palma eruption in Canary Islands showing no signs of ending

The volcano first began erupting on Sept. 19 and has not shown any signs of stopping. Thousands of people on the island have been forced to evacuate.

Lava has already covered about 1,680 acres and destroyed more than 1,500 structures, according to Copernicus Emergency Management Service, which provides mapping products based on satellite imagery.

Lava from the eruption has been spilling into the Atlantic Ocean and created nearly 100 acres of new land.

RELATEDSatellite captures rare weather phenomenon after volcano erupts


Earlier this month, the eruption created a phenomenon called gravity wave clouds as it sent a plume of hot gas high into the atmosphere.

A bullseye-shaped cloud was the product of a rising column of superheated ash and gas, known as the eruption column, on La Palma in the Canary Islands on October 1. Photo courtesy NASA

Lava flow from Spanish island volcano likened to a tsunami

People clean up the ash off a house from the volcano in Las Manchas on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain on Thursday Oct. 14, 2021. Hundreds of people in Spain's Canary Islands are fearing for their homes and property after a new lava stream from an erupting volcano threatened to engulf another neighborhood on the island of La Palma. (AP Photo/Saul Santos) | Photo: AP

Updated: October 15, 2021 

MADRID (AP) - The second 4.5 magnitude earthquake in two days rattled the Spanish island of La Palma on Friday, officials said, as scientists described a gushing river of molten rock from an erupting volcano as "a true lava tsunami."

The two quakes were the strongest to hit La Palma, part of the Canary Islands off northwest Africa, since the volcano erupted on Sept. 19, Spain's National Geographical Institute said.

Lava rolling toward the Atlantic Ocean forced the evacuation of more than 300 people late Thursday, bringing the number of people forced from their homes since Tuesday to 1,200, according to the La Palma government. About 7,000 people in all have had to flee since the eruption, the government said.

Authorities have reported no casualties from the eruption on the island of some 85,000 people. Most of the island, where the economy is based mostly on farming and tourism, has been unaffected so far.

Two main rivers of lava were still flowing from the Cumbre Vieja ridge Friday. The initial one has slowed to a virtual stop, but a second one is spewing a large amount of molten rock and compelling authorities to stay alert for further possible evacuations.

The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute likened one of the flows to a lava tsunami as the molten rock poured down a hillside.

The volcano has coughed up ocean sediment that pre-dates the island's formation 2 million years ago, Vicente Soler of Spain's Higher Center for Scientific Research said.

The lava has fully or partially destroyed more than 1,500 buildings, most of them homes, and covered more than 680 hectares (1,680 acres), according to an EU satellite monitoring agency.

Strongest quake since volcano erupted shakes Spanish island


Military Emergency Unit personal clear black ash from volcano as it continues to erupt lava behind a church on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain on Wednesday Oct. 13, 2021. A new lava stream from an erupting volcano threatened to engulf another neighborhood on its way toward the Atlantic Ocean. Island authorities have ordered the evacuation of around 800 people from a section of the coastal town on Tuesday after the lava took a new course and put their homes in its probable path of destruction.

 (AP Photo/Saul Santos)


MADRID (AP) — A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands in what was the strongest recorded temblor since volcanic eruptions began 26 days ago, authorities said Thursday.

The quake was one of around 60 recorded overnight, Spain’s National Geographic Institute said, as the Cumbre Vieja volcano continued to spew fiery rivers of lava that are destroying everything in their path and dumping molten rock into the Atlantic Ocean.

The lava has partially or completely destroyed more than 1,600 buildings, about half of them houses, officials said, though prompt evacuations have so far prevented any deaths. Around 7,000 people have had to abandon their homes, 300 of them Thursday.

“This is definitely the most serious eruption in Europe of the past 100 years,” Canary Islands President Ángel Víctor Torres said.


Lava from a volcano flows destroying a banana plantation on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain, on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. A new river of lava has belched out from the La Palma volcano, spreading more destruction on the Atlantic Ocean island where molten rock streams have already engulfed over 1,000 buildings. The partial collapse of the volcanic cone has sent a new lava stream heading toward the western shore of the island. (AP Photo/Daniel Roca)

“The only good news is that...so far, nobody has been hurt,” he said.

The flow from three rivers of molten rock broadened to almost 1.8 kilometers (just over a mile), the La Palma government said, but their advance has slowed to a crawl.

Hard, black lava now covers 674 hectares (1,665 acres) on the western side of the island, authorities said, though most of la Palma is unaffected.

Authorities advised locals against traveling by car because volcanic ash was ankle-deep in some places. The volcano’s plume was 2,600 meters (about 8,500 feet) high as of Thursday.

La Palma is part of Spain’s Canary Islands, an Atlantic Ocean archipelago off northwest Africa whose economy depends on tourism and the cultivation of the Canary plantain.