El Hierro eruption quakes felt on surrounding islands

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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