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Current Reports of volcanic unrest in the Canary Islands

Introduction

The Canary Islands have had a lot of volcanic activity over millions of years, and some of the islands are still active today; therefore, there will likely be another eruption at some point, but it is near-impossible to predict exactly when, where, or how big it will be. Scientists closely watch the volcanoes to understand their normal “background” activity so that they can identify when unusual volcanic behaviour might indicate that an eruption could be on the way. On this page we describe who monitors volcanic activity and participates in emergency response with a timeline of the main episode of unrest in the last 20 years.

It is important to refer to official sites for information in an emergency. The main sites to find information around volcanic unrest are:

Twitter accounts of the Islands’ Cabildos:

Cabildo de Lanzarote

Cabildo de El Hierro

Cabildo de La Palma

Cabildo de Tenerife

Other groups also cover volcanic unrest:

Current status of each island

VTL - Current volcanic traffic level by Ajay Geotenerife

For an explanation of Traffic Light System, click here

The colours in this interactive map do NOT correspond to the Volcanic traffic level above. The most recent earthquake is within the flashing red circle. Yellow circles are earthquakes with a magnitude less than 2, orange between 2-3, red between 3-4, and dark red is a magnitude of more than 4. IGN Spain uses the mbLg, which measures the body wave magnitude, uses a logarithmic scale, and this scale is suited for measuring earthquakes close to their epicentre.

Most recent report

A summarised version of the most recent report available through the IGN seismic catalogue, relevant social media, and news articles. You can find a comprehensive timeline at the bottom of this page.

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  • Las Cańadas activity, IGN Report, March 6th

    🇬🇧 🇺🇸 The seismic activity which had reduced for a few days prior reactivated on March 4th at 11 pm and continued for 2 days. The activity continues to have a similar pattern to what has been observed recently: In the West of the Las Cañadas caldera, between 8-16 km below sea level, with a low frequency. However, the signals detected in the past 2 days are particularly weak. This type of activity does not represent an increase in volcanic eruption likelihood in the short term. (IGN, 2026)

    🇪🇸 🇮🇨 La actividad sísmica, que se había reducido durante unos días, se reactivó el 4 de marzo a las 23:00 horas y se prolongó durante dos días. La actividad sigue mostrando un patrón similar al observado recientemente: al oeste de la caldera de Las Cañadas, entre 8 y 16 km por debajo del nivel del mar, con baja frecuencia. Sin embargo, las señales detectadas en los últimos dos días son especialmente débiles. Este tipo de actividad no supone un aumento de la probabilidad de erupción volcánica a corto plazo (IGN, 2026)

Timeline of volcanic unrest

Drag the timeline along to see previous updates

August 6 2025 9:30 PM

3.3 mbLg earthquake 65 km north of Tenerife

Sourced from IGN (2-25)
Sourced from IGN (2-25)

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 At 07:44 am local time, IGN detected a 3.3 mbLg earthquake 75 km north of Santa Cruz, Tenerife. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 47 km. This follows an earthquake of 2.9 mbLg which occurred yesterday 110 km North of Santa Cruz, 5th February 2025, at 03:51 am at a depth of 75 km into the earth.

Read more here

🇪🇸 🇮🇨A las 07:44 a. m., hora local, IGN detectó un terremoto de 3,3 mbLg a 75 km al norte de Santa Cruz, Tenerife. El terremoto se produjo a una profundidad de 47 km. Esto sigue a un terremoto de 2,9 mbLg que ocurrió ayer 110 km al norte de Santa Cruz, el 5 de febrero de 2025, a las 03:51 a. m. a una profundidad de 75 km en la tierra.

Más información en IGN

January 24 2025 1:00 PM

GeoTenerife twitter thread

Posting to Twitter and Bluesky, GeoTenerife breaks down the recent Pevolca press release, explaining what it means and why it’s relevant to residents and tourists on the island of Tenerife. We also used this opportunity to show where resources regarding eruption preparedness can be found, including the Tenerife emergency plans openly accessible on our Volcanic Readiness page.

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January 23 2025 2:00 PM

PEVOLCA scientists agree on the “anomalous” activity of Teide, although there are no signs of an eruption

PEVOLCA meeting on January 23rd 2025. Sourced from Gobierno de Canarias (2025)
PEVOLCA meeting on January 23rd 2025. Sourced from Gobierno de Canarias (2025)

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 Experts from the Scientific Committee for the Evaluation and Monitoring of Volcanic Phenomena (CCES), provided for in the Special Plan for Civil Protection and Emergency Response due to volcanic risk in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands (PEVOLCA), agree in describing the volcanic activity of Teide as “anomalous”, although the signs “do not seem to be precursors of an eruptive process in the short term, but they do imply an increase in the probability of it occurring in the medium to long term”. (Gobierno de Canarias, 2025)

🇪🇸 🇮🇨 Los expertos del Comité Científico de Evaluación y Seguimiento de Fenómenos Volcánicos (CCES), previsto en el Plan Especial de Protección Civil y Atención de Emergencias por riesgo volcánico en la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias (PEVOLCA), coinciden en calificar como “anómala” la actividad volcánica del Teide, aunque los indicios “no parecen ser precursores de un proceso eruptivo a corto plazo, pero sí suponen un aumento en la probabilidad de que se produzca a medio largo plazo”. (Gobierno de Canarias, 2025)

November 14 2024 7:00 AM

Seismic swarm in Las Cañadas del Teide

A seismogram showing drumbeat seismicity on 14 November 2024, where there were hundreds of small and similar magnitude earthquakes, occurring at almost regular time intervals. Courtesy of IGN.
A seismogram showing drumbeat seismicity on 14 November 2024, where there were hundreds of small and similar magnitude earthquakes, occurring at almost regular time intervals. Courtesy of IGN.

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 On 14 November 2024, more than 500 earthquakes were detected in the Cañadas del Teide, southwest of Pico Viejo, in the same area where seismicity has been recorded in recent years (October 2016, June 2019 and June and July 2022). There were also additional earthquakes that were too small (low magnitude) to be located (IGN, 2024).

🇪🇸 🇮🇨 El 14 de noviembre de 2024 se detectaron más de 500 terremotos en las Cañadas del Teide, al suroeste de Pico Viejo, en la misma zona donde se ha registrado sismicidad en los últimos años (octubre de 2016, junio de 2019 y junio y julio de 2022). También se produjeron otros terremotos que fueron demasiado pequeños (baja magnitud) para ser localizados (IGN, 2024).

June 2 2024 8:00 PM

Detection of low-frequency signals in the interior of Tenerife

Spectogram recorded on 2nd June showing low frequency events. This spectrogram shows time along the bottom in minutes, frequency of an earthquake along the vertical axis, which can be thought of as how sharp (high frequency) or long (low frequency) an earthquake wave. The brighter colours are, the stronger the signal. IGN has indicated where earthquakes are with arrows. High frequencies are usually felt as sharp jolts, while low frequencies are felt as a gentle rolling
Spectogram recorded on 2nd June showing low frequency events. This spectrogram shows time along the bottom in minutes, frequency of an earthquake along the vertical axis, which can be thought of as how sharp (high frequency) or long (low frequency) an earthquake wave. The brighter colours are, the stronger the signal. IGN has indicated where earthquakes are with arrows. High frequencies are usually felt as sharp jolts, while low frequencies are felt as a gentle rolling

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 On 1st-2nd June 2024 at least 50 very small (low magnitude) earthquakes were detected below Tenerife, possibly under the Las Cañadas area. This type of low-frequency event is typically related to the presence of fluids, which usually refers to hydrothermal waters or fluids (like water or CO2) released from magma. (IGN, 2024).

🇪🇸 🇮🇨 Los días 1 y 2 de junio de 2024 se detectaron al menos 50 terremotos muy pequeños (de baja magnitud) bajo Tenerife, posiblemente bajo la zona de Las Cañadas. Este tipo de evento de baja frecuencia está normalmente relacionado con la presencia de fluidos, que suelen ser aguas hidrotermales o fluidos (como agua o CO2) liberados por el magma. (IGN, 2024).