El Hierro eruption quakes felt on surrounding islands

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Category: El Hierro Eruption

Published on Saturday, 05 November 2011 16:28

Written by The Editor

At least three eruptive mouths perfectly aligned in the direction of La Restinga now expel magma in the eruption that has been occurring on El Hierro since the 10th of October. 

As we go to press activity has so far peaked with an earthquake tremor measuring 4.4 magnitude on the Richter scale, similar to the one that occurred last Wednesday, which was felt in La Gomera and Tenerife and produced landslides in Sabinosa and the area of Guinea. There has also been movement on the island of Meridiano. 

As a result of the quake, 31 people from eleven families have had to be evacuated in the neighborhood of Las Puntas to ensure their safety. As soon as magma material started coming from the south the earth trembled to the north with an intensity greater than 4 on the scale Richter scale. 

The whole island of just over ten thousand people have been awaiting the arrival of a visible eruption to end the uncertainty which has lasted months and reinvented El Hierro into a focus of global attention and an unepected type of tourist attraction. 

In the south, at La Restinga, where on October 10 a fissure opened in a submarine eruption magma materials began to appear and two more fissures have since erupted. The tremor signal and alignment of the materials floating to the surface, that can be seen in the Sea of Calm, are so far the most obvious signs detected of an eruption, the event seems to have only just begun. As we go to press further reports of "steaming and bubbling pyroclastic materials caused by released gases" were still coming in from scientists who have been conducting helicopter reconnaissance flights. 

In the north, Frontera, the scenario is different. The latest shock arrived on Friday evening with an earthquake that could be felt even in La Gomera and Tenerife. There seems to lull in the magma that lies beneath the coast of the island which is desperately seeking a way out. 

On Friday morning, an intense earthquake occurred within the ecstasy of bubbling closest to La Restinga, which residents of El Golfo could feel under their feet as the ground shook and reached a magnitude of 3.8 on the Richter scale. And although during the afternoon, the movements of the earth seemed to have taken a break, the evening came with the highest seismic shaking of the crisis so far and caused panic, especially in the town of Frontera, where the epicenter was at a depth of 21 kilometers. 

Following the trend of recent days, the earthquakes mainly occur in Frontera but are sometimes felt throughout the island and even on other islands close by, with two distinct groups in terms of depth causing concern. On the one hand, one group would be between 20 and 25 km depth while the closest to the surface would be between 10 and 15 kilometers. 

According to scientists, there is still not enough information to predict an impending eruption, even though an earthquake like Friday's might be felt by startled residents. And with that uncertainty the earth moves beneath the islanders: as the magma below, in a state of maximum turbulence, seeks a way out.

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Earth Quake detected off the coast of Gran Canaria

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Category: El Hierro Eruption

Published on Thursday, 03 November 2011 20:04

Written by The Editor

The National Geographic Institute (IGN) has reported a 2.4 magnitude quake between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura. The quake occurred at 12:40 hours on Thursday at a depth of 20 kilometers in the Atlantic. The last earthquake felt near Gran Canaria was held last October 13 with a recorded magnitude measured 2.1 on the Richter scale, about 15 miles southeast of Melenara.

El Hierro still on yellow alert - earthquakes up to 4.6 expected.

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Category: El Hierro Eruption

Published on Saturday, 05 November 2011 15:44

Written by The Editor

LATEST UPDATE

El Hierro remains on yellow alert even with earthquakes up to 4.6 on the Richter scale expected. PEVLOLCA announced, as we go to press, the implementation of their pre-set plan for increased seismic activity that includes the closure of Roquille tunnels and several stretches of road between Sabinosa and Frontera. Juan Manuel Santana, director of Security and Emergency has said that these measures were implemented because there is a risk of landslides, although no more evacuations will take place for now, eleven families have been evacuated, and schools continue to function normally.

The Sea of Calm begins to bubble again

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Category: El Hierro Eruption

Published on Thursday, 03 November 2011 14:53

Written by The Editor

The volcano of El Hierro has again started to bubble to the surface of the Sea of Calm just off the south coast of El Hierro island. In the last few hours, there have been new sightings volcanic activity in the sea, with steaming pyroclastic matter  surfacing and the bubbling having intensified. 

For now, the Canaries Government has dismissed the need to evacuate La Restinga again, the El Hierro population closest to the underwater eruption that began on October 10 also in the Sea of Calm. The leaders of the Civil Protection met this morning with representatives of the scientific team who travelled to the island to analyze the changes that have occurred in recent days, which have once again thrown to the surface the smoking (pyroclastic) remains of magma seeping on to the sea bed and caused vibrations to be felt in La Restinga. 

Experts believe that vibration is associated with a dynamic pulse signal discontinuous tremor, which is one of the primary indicators of the volcanic eruption. 

A TOWN in suspense. 
La Restinga, a population of five hundred inhabitants dedicated to fishing and tourism, remained evacuated from 11 to 21 October, during the time that the experts considered that the submarine eruption could enter a phase of explosive risk for the population, which ultimately did not occur. Residents were allowed to return to their homes when the scientific committee found that the eruption was gradually losing volatility, a situation that has remained until this week.