Canary Islands,Yellow Alert( El Hierro Volcano)

We are experiencing birth of new island. El Hierro erupts slow and steadily, there shouldn't be mega eruption. There is already underwater island and it keeps going up.

And even El Hierro is going up, there is bulge that has been rising 5 centimeters in 4 days. Eruption might cause local damage, but El Hierro is small volcano, not capable for mass destruction.

I still find these incidents amazing. I wonder if continents like Australia are the result of multiple mega-underwater volcanoes .. prolly not as it's in the middle of a plate

Seems a little to quiet now. A few yesterday but now nada. I guess that's a good sign, I think.

reply to post by caitlinfae


Yes we know about the tsunami threat.

Does anyone know about the secret , old nazi purported underground

coastal sub base on the Jandia peninsula (near Villa Winter) on

Fuertaventura? I find it interesting that this is privately owned (German)

land to this day. Correct me if I'm wrong. I would bet any odd activity

here, would be even more prescient of a forthcoming seismological

event than any update from "Joke" or the EQ traces from El Hierro.

Unless you were good and quite diligent in following the seismographs

for the last year, a lot of activity doesn't necessarily mean the big one.

Maybe some intrepid local should point a webcam at a dog farm instead.

When they go nuts, its the big one.

reply to post by Mister1k


After some period of 'calming down' at El Hierro I thought that everything is fine again and we just saw a few quakes too deep to do any harm. The Earthquake Report also changed the status a level down to 'Green pre-alert' a few days ago.

But maybe this was just the silence before the storm? Just after everything settled and they switched to Green pre-alert the quakes came back. This time just smaller quakes but therefore only at about 10km deeps.

The earthquakes of the last 3 days and especially their depth and location are no longer a coincidence. Far too early to speak about renewed activity but if seismicity would increase at the present locations and depth the result will be totally different than what started at the end of June

Source: Earthquake-Report for El Hierro Volcano

So bringing up this thread as there is a small possibility that thinks are again heating up at El Hierro. Maybe it's better to watch more closely and be prepared for things to come (although in 99% nothing will happen it's still better to be prepared for the 1% chance).

The new update is just in and they labeled it a 'Very important Update' as 'A new earthquake swarm has started below El Hierro'. So things are really heating up there again. It's still no sure sign for an impending eruption but the possibility is now higher that an eruption might follow:

The depth is continuing around the 10 to 12 km which is a complete difference from the July swarm, but still far away from an eruption. More seismicity at lesser depths is needed to create a pre-eruptive condition. Newt to seismicity, we have also the gas analysis, the deformation, etc who will have to confirm if the present swarm will end in an eruption. The magma pressure should be powerful enough to find his way up.

A reason for concern at this time should be the location of the seismicity (El Golfo Bay and Sabinosa area – including the cliffs south of Sabinosa). Landslides and rockfall may become dangerous at Magnitudes from M4 and up.

Source for both is the Earthqake Report Blog

So everyone living near this volcano/island should monitor this might be a precursor for an eruption if the quakes intensity increase further.

After a long period of relatively low activity it seems that a new swarm of earthquakes may be underway(as of Dec.31,2012). Most of the quakes have been in the 15-20km range for depth and I believe most of the quakes have been centered off the island.The number of quakes for the last 48 hours seems to be in the 90-100 range(although many of the smaller quakes may not have been reported). I will try give periodic updates on the number, magnitude, and location of future quakes. I have been keeping a close eye on El Hierro the last major swarm was Sept.15th-17th,2012.

Hawaii has earthquakes all the time, about the same in magnitude
This isnt a big deal..
when they become 6 and above,,, then be concerned

19 earthquakes so far today.All in the same Las Puntas-N.Frontera area and in the same 17-20km layer. It is also note worthy to mention that El Hierro has been at a pre-green alert status for quite some time now.