El Hierro - Latest Update - 1,100 earthqakes betweem 23 - 30 June!

Started by Captain Sensible, July 01, 2012, 12:14:51 PM

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Captain Sensible

A TOTAL of 125 earthquakes were recorded on the island of El Hierro today, just after its coastal areas were placed on 'yellow alert' over the risk of volcanic eruption.
Having been under surveillance all last summer and autumn when an underwater volcano began to erupt off the coast of La Restinga, accompanied by over 8,000 earthquakes, the danger seemed to have passed by March this year – only to rear its head again this week.
Only four of Saturday's earthquakes were found to be over level three on the Richter scale, and even then, only just.
The remainder were between two and three, meaning they were strong enough to be felt, but not enough to cause damage of any significance.
In total this week, 1,100 earthquakes have been detected between Frontera, El Pinar and, ironically, the inaptly-named village Mar de las Calmas.
So far, the highest has been 3.8 on the Richter scale, which may have caused some minor property damage, but not produced any real danger to human safety.

fifi

El Hierro has just had an M4. earthquake. Islanders said last night that their furniture was moving and things were falling off shelves and also window glass was breaking. The IGN are not showing the earthquakes in real time but two hours behind. The Islanders are using the resources of AVCANS facebook for up to date information. The Government have withdrawn most of their resources and voluntary donations are paying for most of the current studies. Webcams have been turned off because they are deemed too expensive by the Government to keep in operation. It is a disgraceful situation. Landslides in El Hierro have previously caused Local Tsunamis which effected the other Islands generating waves of up to 150 feet in height. The whole thing is being played down in the media because of the need to generate income from Tourism. Scientists and Volcanogists are forbidden to report on the matter unless their statements have been passed in advance of going to press.

Do not trust all you read in the papers and do not trust the Government when it comes to situations like this.

M 4.2 - CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION - 2012-07-01 10:11 UTC  (Currently listed as M4 on IGN)




Magnitude   ML 4.2
Region   CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION
Date time   2012-07-01 10:11:40.9 UTC
Location   27.66 N ; 18.13 W
Depth   22 km



More information at:

Instituto Geografico Nacional Madrid, Spain

SurfJames

Quote from: fifi on July 01, 2012, 12:46:49 PM
El Hierro has just had an M4. earthquake. Islanders said last night that their furniture was moving and things were falling off shelves and also window glass was breaking. The IGN are not showing the earthquakes in real time but two hours behind. The Islanders are using the resources of AVCANS facebook for up to date information. The Government have withdrawn most of their resources and voluntary donations are paying for most of the current studies. Webcams have been turned off because they are deemed too expensive by the Government to keep in operation. It is a disgraceful situation. Landslides in El Hierro have previously caused Local Tsunamis which effected the other Islands generating waves of up to 150 feet in hight. The whole thing is being played down in the media because of the need to generate income from Tourism. Scientists and Volcanogists are forbidden to report on the matter unless their statements have been passed in advance of going to press.

Do not trust all you read in the papers and do not trust the Government when it comes to situations like this.

M 4.2 - CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION - 2012-07-01 10:11 UTC  (Currently listed as M4 on IGN)




Magnitude   ML 4.2
Region   CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION
Date time   2012-07-01 10:11:40.9 UTC
Location   27.66 N ; 18.13 W
Depth   22 km



More information at:

Instituto Geografico Nacional Madrid, Spain

These quakes are becoming rather large.... :o I feel for the local population - it must be very worrying.

I really don't understand why the authorities hold back information with respect to natural events such as this. You cannot control the outcome. Censorship will only result in fear and rumour.  :-X

SurfJames

Quote from: captain sensible on July 01, 2012, 12:14:51 PM
A TOTAL of 125 earthquakes were recorded on the island of El Hierro today, just after its coastal areas were placed on 'yellow alert' over the risk of volcanic eruption.
Having been under surveillance all last summer and autumn when an underwater volcano began to erupt off the coast of La Restinga, accompanied by over 8,000 earthquakes, the danger seemed to have passed by March this year – only to rear its head again this week.
Only four of Saturday's earthquakes were found to be over level three on the Richter scale, and even then, only just.
The remainder were between two and three, meaning they were strong enough to be felt, but not enough to cause damage of any significance.
In total this week, 1,100 earthquakes have been detected between Frontera, El Pinar and, ironically, the inaptly-named village Mar de las Calmas.
So far, the highest has been 3.8 on the Richter scale, which may have caused some minor property damage, but not produced any real danger to human safety.

Hi Cap'n.

My understanding is that a scale 4 quake is 10 times stronger than a 3. Therefore a 4 quake is 100 times stronger than a 2.

Anything over a 4 can do serious damage to buildings.

fifi

The Head of Tourism, Alpido Armas was quoted in the papers yesterday as saying that he hopes that the Volcano will erupt on land instead of under the sea. He thought it would be a good boost for Tourism. The Island has losts most of its revenue from Tourism and also their other profitable sources of revenue such as diving and fishing.


When it comes to Governments......its all about money....and power.

SurfJames

Quote from: fifi on July 01, 2012, 13:44:39 PM
The Head of Tourism, Alpido Armas was quoted in the papers yesterday as saying that he hopes that the Volcano will erupt on land instead of under the sea. He thought it would be a good boost for Tourism. The Island has losts most of its revenue from Tourism and also their other profitable sources of revenue such as diving and fishing.


When it comes to Governments......its all about money....and power.

sadly so true Fi - so very true.    :(  :D :D :D 8)

Florence

There are shield volcanoes on El Hierro - much like those in Hawaii, and tourists go to see them in action.  I think some people see any El Hierro eruption as being very explosive with pyroclastic flows but the reality will be very different and can be viewed (from a safe distance).  Wouldn't mind going there myself.

P.s.  Can we have this thread free from multiple cut and paste jobs so we can easily discuss the matter without too much.. stuff?

fifi

Good idea, we could have this as our little chat about El Hierro thread Florence.  :)

Captain Sensible

Update from islandconnections today:

More signs of an impending eruption of some kind on El Hierro have emerged in the shape of bubbles in the sea a short distance off the coast of the island.

The bubbles and an as yet unexplained white patch on the surface, just 180 metres off the shore and very close to the spots where similar activity took place last autumn, were detected yesterday evening by an emergency services helicopter. A further 30 small 'quakes were recorded by monitoring equipment between midnight and 4 am this morning. Scientists say there are now clear signs of a big build up of pressure at around 20 km under the surface El Hierro.

SurfJames

If it is a new vent - being so close to the shore and in shallow water will mean rooster tails this time.  :)

jand

ADMIN

Is it not sensible to have these posts posted in the original El Hierro forum that you  started instead of having 2 posts on the same subject.

Surely its easier for people to read the updates in one forum.

The more up to date posts by anyone wishing to post surely are beneficial to everyone who is interested in whats happening in El Hierro at the moment .

Florence

I would like a separate thread for discussion only and no reams of cut and paste jobs.  It is much easier to follow.

jand

But this is not being treat as a  discussion thread it shows posts written word for word from  latest bulletins from other sources.

Instead of copy and pasting  the latest news this has just been  being typed word for word from the original source therefore I ask  where is  and what has been discussed  Florence ??

Florence

Tremors continue but a suspected subterranean release was dismissed by local fisherman as being another natural event.  A representative of the IGN doesn't think there will be another subterranean eruption at this time and an on land eruption even less likely.  But they are monitoring the situation closely.

I will try and find a nice picture of roosters for Surf James to compensate...!

Florence

Think I was discussing potential tourism on El Hierro with Surf James and fifi.  Is that ok jand?

jand

It seems that the USA is keeping a watch on El Hierro a statement by the USGS site can be read on the main El Hierro thread.



Captain Sensible

jand - this is hopefully a thread that has information written in easy to read laguage without too much jargon :D

jand

No Jargon easy to read there has been an earthquake at only 10km deep this morning.

If you wish to know the importance of this please read the main El Hierro thread.

Magnitude 2.6

Region CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION
Date time 2012-07-07 11:02:31.1 UTC
Location 27.85 N ; 18.19 W
Depth 10 km

Florence

I read the main El Hierro post but it contained the same information here so I am still non the wiser as to the "importance" of a 10km tremor, other than it is nearer to the surface.

This, the latest article from earthquake report (from yesterday):
http://earthquake-report.com/2012/07/07/volcano-activity-of-july-6-2012-colombia-mexico-california-dr-congo-and-canary-islands/

jand

Florence if the quakes start to happen as far as I have understood below 15 km then there is the danger of the main erruption happening .

There has to be quite a lot of them though so an odd one just stands  out but the earthquakes have to be watched carefully.

There has been another  LP earthquake (where magma fills up voids and openings) between 16:00 and 17:00 it looks like something is starting again.


http://www.02.ign.es/ign/resources/volcanologia/CHIE/imagenes_sismica/HORA/CHIE_2012-07-07_16-17.jpg


Elite of the forum

do illiterate people really get the benefits of alphabet soup

Florence

For anybody interested in volcanoes, the BBC are starting a new series called "volcano live" starting at 8pm on BBC2 tomorrow night.  Not much is happening at the moment volcano wise, so expect lots of shots of shield volcanoes in Hawaii and Iceland.

Florence

El Hierro is restless again with magma on the move.  Lots of seismic activity onland, but whether this could lead to open vents and effusive eruptions, remains to be seen:

http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/el-hierro/submarine-eruption-2011.html

Threat of tsunamis or to Fuerteventura:  negligible.