El Hierro

Started by admin, October 12, 2011, 10:40:14 AM

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admin

Please post any messages regarding the latest volcanic activity around EL Hierro within this thread. Thanks

PHo

See here for calm updates of the situation, rather than emotional rants from sites such as alienalert.com, which we have seen here recently.
http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/
http://www.canariesnews.com/2011/09/28/el-hierro-earthquakes-update/
In a situation like this it makes sense to review a range of websites and make some judgements as to their reliability. Interpreting seismic data needs some skill, not just constant reposting of the same graphs showing the obvious effects of the small eruption currently taking place off El Hierro.
I repeat this is scaremongering, and unneccesarily worrying people with planned trips to our lovely island, which is, and will remain, quite safe.

Magoo

quote:
Originally posted by PHo

See here for calm updates of the situation, rather than emotional rants from sites such as alienalert.com, which we have seen here recently.



Are you saying that the end times are not upon us? I have just maxed out my credit card on food, guns & ammo as people on here were promising Armageddon.

You will be hearing from my solicitor in the morning! [:D]

jand

PHO With al due repects those reports are way out of date from the 25th Sept I suggest you watch live Canary television to understand  and know the postion of the moment.

PHo

Wrong again jand. You seem to post before even reading these sites. One was updated last night and the other this morning. I wouldn't rely on TV too much. It was BBC Panorama that started the La Palma landslide scare, later shown by numerous scientific papers to be wrong.

SurfJames

''There appears to be these two overly hysteric old ladies, "jand" and "SurfJames" spreading nonsense in this forum to get the ordinary folks to panic.''

Hysteric old ladies!!!!! Are you nuts!!!!

That fault line runs from El Hierro northwards to Las Palmas, then does a right turn and goes a little south of Corralejo.

Firstly, El Hierro will go Boooooooom and turn into a giant dust cloud, then Las Palmas will wobble wobble and slide under the waves and then a giant rift will open up and run straight through Fuerteventura. The Earthquakes will be so big, that all the houses will be turned into rubble. Hot Lava will spew out out the volcanoes all over the island and everyone will have to run into the sea to escape it, only to be eaten by sharks. Oh, and don't forget the 300m Tsunami.....get the surf boards ready - I say.

That is not hysterics; open your eyes you ostrich.

fifi

El Hierro has caused a Tsunamai in the past. It is not expected to this time unless a large chunk of the Island falls into the sea.http://www.elhierro.com/geologia-en.html

jand

To stop all this back biting I suggest that  you contact as I did yesterday Professors in geology maybe at a University near you who are qualiifed to answer any of your questions and can give you answers to the graphs showing daily of the seismic activity and the latest harmonic tremors on El Hierro.

They are the ones that can answer what is happening at the moment and what could happen in the future.

Below is one contact I spoke to yesterday.

http://www.roma1.ingv.it/Members/marzocchi/

http://www.wovo.org/1803-e5e.html


fifi

All joking aside ....no one knows for sure what will happen. The situation is changing from day to day. Earthquakes and Volcanos are not an exact science and that is why the Government are having meetings on a day to day basis with the Scientists to assess the situation and change the warnings if necessary.

Magoo

Odd is it not, that when Kilauea or Etna erupts, people flock & pay good tourist $$$ to enjoy the view, even though the latter is potentially a nasty piece of work. However when a volcano with an eruption cycle which is way outside of the human lifespan erupts, the end time doom mongers jump on it as a sign from God or whatever.

Apart from slow moving lava flows, the biggest credable risk is that some ash might be generated & affect flights. However, given the prevailing winds, I think my forthcoming November trip to Fuerty is safe.

As Fifi points out, there has been major land slips in the past, look at the El Golfo Valley on the North flank (Google Earth) However, I have read nothin to suggest that the island is currently in any way unstable. To create a Tsunami, a large chunk would have to slip, and critically, it would have to go all at once. I believe thats the major bug the La Palma theory.

I will not be cancelling my 10 days in the sun. See you all in November

fifi

Update 12/10 – 08:56 UTC : All IGN graphics are showing the same activity as yesterday. Harmonic tremors continue like yesterday too and at least give the impression that the eruption goes on.
The deformation decreases slightly which is a good sign that energy is released and which is an additional reason for the claim of an ongoing submarine eruption.

The lack of underwater cameras in these  modern times to record this event is a blame for science.  Speculating about an ongoing eruption close to a populated island which can only be guessed by indirect data and knowing that underwater rov's (remotely operated vehicles) which can dive more than 1000 meters are not called in is hard to accept.http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/

jand


jand

Would like to point out the first part of the above link is factual regarding the formation of El Hierro the end I have taken with a pinch of salt.

waggy

Reminds me of when me and the Missus moved to Anglesey a few years ago. We're laid in bed one morning and there's a rumble approaching like a tube train and then the bed started shaking. Jacqui screamed and shouted 'What the xxxx's that?'  'Relax,' I said, 'It's just an earthquake,'and rolled over.
I never was an early morning person and she doesn't normally swear.
Turns out our house is over the Pentre Berw fault and it happens all the time.

Florence

This is a good time to know our volcanoes - they are not all the same, there are different types such as the "stratovolcano" and "shield volcanoe" being the most common.

Stratovolcanoes are tall, conical structures composed of many different materials (also known as composite volcanoes) and if they occur in subduction zones there is an immense build up of pressure and the eruption can be very violent resulting in significant loss of life.  Examples are Krakatoa, Mt St Helens and Vesuvius.

Shield volcanoes are shorter and composed mostly entirely of lava and are commonly found in volcanic hotspots such as Hawaii, the Galapogas Islands, the Canaries and they are very common in Iceland.  Eruptions are characterised by slow moving lava flow in all directions and can destroy entire towns and villages.  There is not usually a significant loss of life because people and animals can get out of the way in time.

There are other volcanoes - such as supervolcano with large calderas (such as the one under Yellowstone Park) and you can search the internet for more information (like I did).

Magoo

Looks like the trends are starting to change. It gives the impression that it is starting to "spurt" Maybe it's running out of steam!

Magoo


jand

You can also see that at the same time this happened La Gomera and La Palma also had higher seismic movement.

jand

Magoo whatever has happened does not look good

media called with urgenty to a press conference in El Hierro capital at 19H

 Quoting: Luisport

Néstor Santana Martín Ultima Hora, las autoridades han dado orden a todos los periodistas de la isla que esta tarde a las 7 vayan al cabildo, en la capital de la isla para dar una rueda de prensa urgente.
há 5 minutos · 2 pessoasJesús Agomar González Guillama e Yesenia Aponte gostam disto. · Traduzir.

jand

12/10/2011 @ 16:45 – It has been reported that the Canarian Government have requested the help of Telefonica, who have arranged for a ship that is normally used for laying and repairing underwater fibre optic cables, to assist with photographic and collecting other data related to the underwater volcanic activity of the coast of LaRestinga, this is the ship to be used, Leon Thevenin, which has an on-board robot which can be submerged to a depth of up to 2.000 metres. The ship is currently docked in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

n/a

quote:
Originally posted by Magoo

Well, something has just happened

http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/volcaSenalesAyerHoy.do



That graph looks pretty. Think I'll print that off and stick it up on the wall or submit it for the Turner prize. It would look great in the Tate Modern. Off to the shops now to buy some marshmellows and sausages and sharpen my pointy sticks. Hmmm.... toasty. [8D]

Perhaps I should worry a bit as I live on the side of a mountain but in my experience worrying never solved anything so I think I'll just pop another tinny. Cheers all!
Biskit

cllrcollins

Must say, those graphs reminds me of the dodgy TV reception I sometimes receive in Horizonte[:D]



But never fear, Telefonica are here! If we're depending on this lot to save the world, then I'm going to start panicing like Jand! Nice boat, the Leon Thevenin. Apparently it's named after a French engineer, Leon Charles Thevenin and has a pretty good track record in finding things

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Th%C3%A9venin_(ship)


cllrcollins

If anybody wants to track the movement of the the good ship Thevenin, follow this

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=226292000

Still in Tenerife 1 min 14 seconds ago, maybe the lads aren't getting paid the overtime to do a night shift[:D]

Florence

I am finding PHos links very useful for keeping a track on the latest news (I don't know what the graphs mean - being no expert).  I love the comment on a honorary mention in the Guiness Book of Records for the calm and collected El Hierro population!  I am wondering who on this forum would get an honorary mention in this book for being the least calm & collected?  Hmmmm.... let me think.

jand

You want latest news well here it is

[21:01:52] jan: 19.01(GMT) – In the press conference taking place, it has been reported that they have found two further different coloured spots 1.5 and 2 miles out to sea off the coast of La Restinga.  The depth of water in these places is 500 meters and 750 meters deep.

There are also dead fish and a strong smell of sulphur present.  The earlier discussions regarding the moving of boats still in the harbour have been dismissed now.

17.24(GMT) – An urgent press conference has been called for all journalists on the Island for 7pm tonight in the capital city.

jand

Oh and by the way a second eruption in the sea near the coast has been confirmed 500 mtrs down.


jand

The scientific teams working on the island of El Hierro have found this afternoon in the sea two spots with strong sulfur smell and dead fish south of Punta Restinga, the first-half mile of the coast and the second at two miles, as reported by the Canarian Government. In an appearance at a press conference in Valverde, Director of Security and Emergency Canaries, Juan Manuel Santana, has noted that these two spots confirmed two outbreaks of volcanic eruption , a 750 meters deep and two miles away and another 500 meters under the sea and half mile away. Santana has indicated that these two sources are consistent with what is indicated seismic graphs of the last hours, showing a reduction in tremor (continuous tremor characteristic that produces the magma on its way to the surface), indicating a reduction in the pressure of magma underground. decreased signal Tremor The tremor volcanic recorded seismic stations National Geological Institute (IGN) in El Hierro to assess the risk of rash has sharply reduced from about 15.30, as shown by the graphs IGN's own Internet broadcast. The tremor is a continuous signal, very different to that produced by sporadic earthquakes, scientists are paying special attention these days in El Hierro, because it is considered an indicator that the magma flows to the surface by a duct.

Florence

I feel bad about the dead fish.  Now - if this volcanic activity manages to harm any headless chickens, then I really will be upset.