A river of lava that is trickling out of a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma has reached the Atlantic Ocean, sending plumes of white smoke high into the air.

Involvcan — the Canary Islands Volcanic Institute — confirmed on Tuesday that the flow of lava had reached the ocean. Video footage from the island captured the event, and NASA satellites even photographed it from high above the Earth.

While the breathtaking event is a natural wonder, officials fear it could pose a health problem to people in the area. AFP reports that the rapid cooling of the lava could cause the release of toxic gases in the atmosphere that can irritate the eyes, skin and lungs.

According to AFP, residents in nearby Tazacorte were told to stay in their homes to avoid breathing in the fumes. The BBC adds that officials also fear that parts of the island's shoreline could collapse, which could trigger explosions should a large amount of lava fall into the ocean.

La Palma's volcano, named La Cumbre Vieja, began erupting on Sept. 19. While the flow of lava has slowed in recent days, the eruption has destroyed more than 300 homes and, according to Reuters, a sizeable portion of the island's lucrative banana crop.

Prior to this month, the last eruption on La Palma occurred 50 years ago and lasted over three weeks, The Associated Press reports.

TODOQUE, Canary Islands —

A volcano in Spain’s Canary Islands kept nerves on edge Friday for a fifth day since it erupted, producing loud explosions, a huge ash cloud and cracking open a new fissure that spewed out more fiery molten rock.

The archipelago’s emergency services ordered the evacuation of scores of people from three villages on the island of La Palma and ordered residents to stay indoors in another. Already this week, almost 7,000 people have had to leave their homes. The prompt evacuations are credited with helping avoid casualties.

Loud bangs from the volcano’s mouth sent shock waves echoing across the hillsides. Explosions hurled molten rock and ash over a wide expanse. As a precaution, emergency services pulled back from the area.

Regional airline Binter temporarily halted flights due to a huge ash cloud that rose almost 4 miles into the sky.

More encouragingly, Spain's National Geographic Institute said it hadn’t recorded any earthquakes in the area for 24 hours, after registering 1,130 over the past week amid intense seismic activity before and after the eruption on the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge.

Also, the advance of the main river of lava slithering toward the sea slowed to about 3 feet per hour.

Both of the main lava flows are at least 33 feet high at their leading edges and have been destroying houses, farmland and infrastructure in their path since Sunday.

The lava has destroyed almost 400 buildings on La Palma, including many homes, on the western side of the island of 85,000 people, a European Union monitoring program said.

It said the lava stretches over almost 20,000 square feet and has blocked 9 miles of roads. Islanders make a living mostly from farming and tourism, and some may lose their livelihoods.

On a visit to La Palma, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a package of measures to help get the island back on its feet and "rebuild lives."

The Spanish government will provide aid for rebuilding homes and public infrastructure, such as roads, irrigation networks and schools, as well as relaunching the island’s tourism industry, Sánchez said. He did not say how much money would be made available but said a Cabinet meeting next week would provide more details.

Scientists say the lava flows could last for weeks or months.

EL FUERTE, Spain (AP) — Giant rivers of lava are tumbling slowly but relentlessly toward the sea after a volcano erupted on the Spanish island of La Palma off northwest Africa.

The lava is destroying everything in its path Monday. But prompt evacuations helped avoid casualties after Sunday's eruption.

Scientists had been monitoring the area in recent days amid a surge in mostly small earthquakes.

The lava was moving at 2,300 feet per hour, according to the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute.

Officials said they expected it to reach the Atlantic Ocean around sunset.

The lava left black swathes of destruction through the sparsely populated, green countryside and destroyed around 100 houses.

Officials have warned that part of the island’s southwest coast was at risk for landslides and rock falls.

The last eruption on La Palma occurred 50 years ago and lasted over three weeks, The Associated Press found.

Watch the video above to see the stunning images of the eruption.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain's La Palma island is continuing to expel molten lava and ash after erupting on Sunday and is likely to do so for days, the president of the Canary Islands regional government warned Monday.

Angel Victor Torres added in a post on Twitter that there had been no reports of injuries or deaths so far.

The Canary Islands emergency services tweeted late Sunday that 5,000 people had been evacuated from the area nearest to the eruption.

That figure included 400 tourists evacuated from a hotel on La Palma and taken to a hotel on the nearby island of Tenerife, Torres told Spanish radio station SER in an interview.

After a night of spectacular images of the lava illuminating the island's countryside, Torres told SER that experts believe there is still just one point of eruption from the volcano, near a "lightly populated" part of the island, which has a population of about 80,000 people.

Footage from the island showed at least one highway cut by a wall of lava; local officials said some houses had been damaged.

Officials have warned local residents to keep their distance from the eruption.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed solidarity with the people of La Palma in a Twitter post on Monday. She added that "we are in contact with Spanish authorities to offer any additional aid that is needed."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has remained on La Palma, one of the smaller islands in the Canary Islands archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Morocco, after rushing there on Sunday.

Following the delay of his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Sanchez and other officials on Monday toured an evacuation center. He was later able to get a closer look at the volcano and its destruction.

The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute (Involcan) wrote in a statement on Facebook on Sunday that more than 25,000 earthquakes had been detected in the previous nine days around the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Spanish news reports said the last major eruption from the volcano was 50 years ago.

The regional president said some 400 firefighting personnel were in place to battle any fires caused by the lava flows.

Spain's Ministry of Transport tweeted that it had prohibited ships from sailing too close to the volcano because of the risks posed by lava flowing into the sea.

The Canary Islands are a popular tourist destination for British, German and other European visitors.