Volcano on uninhabited Galapagos island erupts, sends lava flowing to sea

QUITO: A volcano on an

uninhabited island

in the

Galapagos

has begun erupting, lighting up the nighttime sky as lava tumbled down its sides toward the sea.
The

La Cumbre volcano

on Fernandina island began erupting Saturday around midnight in what officials with

Ecuador's Geophysical Institute

said could be its largest eruption since 2017. The 1,476-meter (4,842-foot) volcano last erupted in 2020.
Images shared on social media taken by visitors to the Galapagos show the volcano profiled against a crimson red sky.

While the eruption posed no risk to humans, the island is home to a number of species, including iguanas, penguins and flightless cormorants. In 2019, scientists found on the island a giant tortoise not seen in more than a century and had been feared extinct.
The La Cumbre volcano is one of the most active in the

Galapagos Island

chain, which is famous throughout the world for helping 19th century British scientist Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution.