Canary Island Of La Palma ROCKED By Over 70 Earthquakes

The Canary island of La Palma has been rattled by another swarm of earthquakes. This new swarm reignites fear that the Cumbre Vieja volcano could erupt just four months after a swarm of 200 earthquakes rocked the island.

According to the Express UK, the Spanish archipelago was struck by up to 70 small quakes, recorded between Monday and Wednesday, reaching between magnitude 1.5 and 2.6 on the Richter scale. Government officials announced more quakes were felt between 3 am and 6:30 am this morning at magnitudes of between 2.1 and 1.5. Most of them were located in the area of Los Canarios, in Fuencaliente, and in El Pueblo, Villa de Mazo, although they have also been registered in El Paso and Tazacorte.

The Canary government, however, is desperate to know why the earthquakes have begun again. They also want to know what could happen in the future.

A statement by government bosses read:

“Given the increase in seismic activity recorded on the island of La Palma, the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Sustainability and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, in application of the Special Plan for Civil Protection and Emergency Care for Volcanic Risk (PEVOLCA), has convened tomorrow Friday, February 16, a meeting of the Scientific Committee of Evaluation and Monitoring of Volcanic Phenomena.

“On the agenda of the meeting, which will be chaired by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Security, Blanca Delia Pérez, will be to discuss the precursors and parameters of seismic activity on the island in recent weeks; assess the activity and evolution forecast, and appoint the sole representative of the Steering Committee.

“The Scientific Committee for Evaluation and Monitoring of Volcanic Phenomena is formed, in addition to the Government of the Canary Islands and representatives of the General State Administration, by the National Geographic Institute (IGN); the Superior Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC); the Canarian Volcanological Institute (Involcan); the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME); State Meteorological Agency (AEMET); Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO); specialists of the two Canarian universities (ULPGC and ULL) and representatives of other prestigious institutions in the study and research of volcanology in the Canary Islands.”

As with every seismic event,  experts stressed there is no imminent danger of an eruption and say the movements that struck at a depth of between 14 and 30 kilometers are considered “normal” for a volcanic island. Nonetheless, La Palma is being monitored closely to detect every single movement, even though they have not been felt by the public.

Following the quakes in October, scientists stepped up monitoring in the Cumbre Vieja area with more seismic stations and GPS antennas, together with a continuous radon measurement station.

Another Earthquake Swarm: ‘These Types Of Swarms Are Common In ACTIVE Volcanoes’

Twenty-two earthquake in four days have rocked a famous tourist location.  This recent swarm has sparked more fears that yet another volcano could be on the verge of erupting.

Mount Teide last erupted in 1909 and is the highest mountain in Spain and a huge tourist attraction. The flurry of tremors struck the village of Vilaflor on the slopes of the 12,000-foot mountain volcano between October 28 and October 31.  Mount Teide’s summit is the highest point in Spain and a major tourist attraction located in the Canary Islands.  Mount Teide boasts around three million tourists visiting every year.

Several days ago, officials were monitoring a separate volcano on the Canary Islands after thousands of earthquakes rocked the La Palma island sparking fears that the Cumbre Vieja volcano would violently erupt soon. The Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan) have been trying to calm people over the fears that Cumbre Vieja or Mount Teide could explode.

All of the quakes near Mount Teide were relatively minor, however, with the most powerful tremor recording a magnitude of 1.4. That quake was recorded as striking at 11.05 am local time (11:05 GMT, 06:05 GMT) on Tuesday morning.  But, they all took place directly beneath the surface of the volcano.  According to Oregon State University, most earthquakes directly beneath a volcano are caused by the movement of magma and that places pressure on the rocks until it cracks the rock. Magma then moves into the crack and begins building pressure again. Every time the rock cracks it makes a small earthquake.

[https://www.facebook.com/INVOLCAN/posts/1746921158674602]

But scientists are saying that there’s still time and that everyone should remain calm. “This swarm is similar to the other Seismic Swarms Recorded in Tenerife since last June 2017 and as always important to emphasize, it does not represent any kind of concern to the population,” a representative wrote on their Facebook page. “These types of swarms are common in active volcanoes,” they wrote, explaining that it was caused by changes in the pressure in the hydrothermal system.

Lucan Duria, a physicist and volcano monitoring expert at Involcan told MailOnline there are normally two or three earthquakes every day near Mount Teide, so there was “nothing special” about recent activity.

But with all of the earthquakes swarms occurring across the globe right now, many are rightly concerned that a volcanic natural disaster coupled with an earthquake could be next.

Volcano Experts To Monitor Canary Islands After Hundreds Of Earthquakes Recorded

It certainly seems like volcanoes are erupting all over the world right now, and the newest region to attract scientists’ attention, is the Canary Islands.  After hundreds of mini-earthquakes were this week, experts were called in to monitor a potential eruption.

According to The Daily Mail UK, the situation could quickly become volatile. Seismic experts have been called in to carry out tests on the Canary Island of La Palma after fears that an active volcano may erupt. Hundreds of mini-earthquakes have been recorded on the island in the past few weeks, and scientists are now monitoring the seismic activity on La Palma 24 hours-a-day. Tests will be carried out on the slopes of the island’s active volcano, Cumbre Vieja, to attempt to calculate any potential risk of an eruption.

Cumbre Vieja, on the volcanic ocean island of La Palma, near Tenerife, last erupted in 1971. But the hundreds of mini-earthquakes are prompting fears that it could go again – and soon. A slew of tiny tremors beneath the volcano’s surface in just a matter of hours this week have reportedly caused lava to rise up from beneath. Scientists will sample underground water, measure PH levels, conductivity, temperature, and radon dissolved gas activity, according to The Express. 

All of this new testing was launched as a “hydrogeochemical monitoring program,”  will see tests conducted three times a week at four different points on the volcano. The 350 mini-earthquakes have prompted scientists to probe deeper into the volcanoes eruption potential. The National Geographic Institute (NGI) notes that a team is to be sent to La Palma to carry out CO2 profiles and structural studies of Cumbre Vieja.

A majority of the tremors were so small, that they could not be detected by scientists and were not felt by any residents on La Palma. Between October 6 and 7, more than 40 tremors were recorded, with the most powerful hitting 2.7 on the Richter scale and located at a depth of 17.4 miles.  A few days without any tremors followed. Then, between October 10 and 13, seismographers on La Palma picked up another swarm of tremors, taking the total to 352 in just ten days. On October 13 alone, some 44 quakes were recorded at depths of between 9.3miles and 13.6miles, the most powerful at 2.1 on the Richter scale.

In a report published on Saturday, the NGI adds that one of the reasons for the high number of tremors could be the three new monitoring stations in the area.