The El Hierro earthquake swarm, that began back in July 2011, has now exceeded 10,000 quakes and the volcano alert has been raised to red today amid fears that an eruption is likely to take place somewhere on the island.
It is thought that yesterday a small underwater eruption took place about 5km out to sea. It was also the start of harmonic tremors seen on seismometers on El Hierro Island which seem to have intensified.
© Instituto Geográfico Nacional
Even though the harmonic tremors grew in size, there was a distinct lack of earthquakes which probably means that magma was able to flow freely. It was not known early today if the underwater eruption would be enough to release the build up of energy and give the magma an escape route.
It was seen as the best possible solution for the people living on the Island and was even seen as good news with an announcement made by the directors of PEVOLCA that there was no danger to the population and those living in or around La Restinga should carry on as normal – including fishing etc as the eruption was too deep to worry about.
This afternoon this all changed:
- Residents of La Restinga were told that they needed to evacuate as a precaution because further eruptions could not be ruled out.
- An URGENT communication from the Canarian Government was sent to the residents of La Restinga informing them that they needed to be evacuated as a matter of urgency.
- At 15.30 there was a further URGENT communication from the Canarian Government saying that the alert level had been raised to RED as they feared further eruptions closer to the Island were expected.
- Shortly after the National Geographic Institute (IGN) said that they were EXPECTING further earthquakes exceeding 4 – 5 degrees as the magma searches for ways to escape.
- By 18.00 almost 600 residents had been evacuated from their homes in La Restinga and there were reports that some residents were not allowed to return to their homes.
At a press conference tonight, AVCAN have warned residents of the island that there is further danger in Co2 build up and that they should avoid enclosed spaces, low laying places or where they can see dead animals.
Further updates will be added as they unfold.
As there is no way to predict how a volcano will behave most of the information being released is based on guess work based on experience. No one is sure what is going to happen over the coming hours/days/weeks.
Helpful Links:
Canary News – Official updates being added
Latest Seismograph Readings – Harmonic Tremors Showing
Latest Pressure Readings – As further quakes happen the pressure will rise
Animation Of Earthquakes Data – Watch the quakes on specific dates
Expert Volcanic Advice/Updates – Updates and sensible predictions
October 11, 2011 at 10:09 pm
This is really great coverage and I love the fact that you have spent time listing the other sites. Not many english sites are covering this so its great for people like me who are interested.
I got told by a friend that the islands were all in danger of sinking into the ocean and as I am due to fly out next week I wanted to get a good understanding of what is happening. The first site I found was clearly some kind of mental institution on day release where they were talking about the end of days and lots of weird stuff!
Sharing this with people that I know. Thank you.
October 12, 2011 at 10:16 am
I’m really shocked that I couldn’t find any information on this in the UK from our main stream media. I guess that odd ball politicians make better news than finding out what is happening with our planet!
October 12, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for the info! I spent three hours going over Jon Frimans website, that man knows his stuff. There was me thinking that the trouble in iceland was finished!