On Thursday 7 August IGN, the Spanish Geographic Institute responsible for volcano monitoring, reported a swarm of abnormal microseismic activity registered in the area of Las Cañadas del Teide, southwest of Pico Viejo, with 700+ small quakes, the sixth seismic swarm detected in the area since 2016. They reported that the event was located about 10km deep, with very low magnitudes and was not felt by the population. Due to the low energy of many of these earthquakes, events of smaller magnitude have only been detected by the automatic seismic monitoring system. However, they do not have enough quality to be included in IGN's official catalogue.
In an interview, Itahiza Dominguez Cerdeña of IGN Spain said: "if we were headed for an eruption, we would see larger earthquakes and deformation, and we haven't seen that yet. So we appeal to calm, we are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week monitoring."
However, president of the Cabildo Rosa Davila said on social media that INVOLCAN had detected 55 small earthquakes, and media reports talk of small deformation and an uptick in gas emissions.
So what's happening?
"The 55 earthquakes only refer to what happened the night before, but for us the important thing was to report the 700+ in the early hours that followed. As to deformation and the increase in gas, that's the same as before, and is not associated with the seismic swarm itself. There was no increased deformation during the swarm. The deformation and the uptick in gases being emitted, which we spoke about in Pevolca back in January, is the same. But we are monitoring very closely and will keep informing of any change," Dominguez told us.
~ GeoTenerife Team
On Thursday 7 August IGN, the Spanish Geographic Institute responsible for volcano monitoring, reported a swarm of abnormal microseismic activity registered in the area of Las Cañadas del Teide, southwest of Pico Viejo, with 700+ small quakes, the sixth seismic swarm detected in the area since 2016. They reported that the event was located about 10km deep, with very low magnitudes and was not felt by the population. Due to the low energy of many of these earthquakes, events of smaller magnitude have only been detected by the automatic seismic monitoring system. However, they do not have enough quality to be included in IGN's official catalogue.
In an interview, Itahiza Dominguez Cerdeña of IGN Spain said: "if we were headed for an eruption, we would see larger earthquakes and deformation, and we haven't seen that yet. So we appeal to calm, we are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week monitoring."
However, president of the Cabildo Rosa Davila said on social media that INVOLCAN had detected 55 small earthquakes, and media reports talk of small deformation and an uptick in gas emissions.
So what's happening?
"The 55 earthquakes only refer to what happened the night before, but for us the important thing was to report the 700+ in the early hours that followed. As to deformation and the increase in gas, that's the same as before, and is not associated with the seismic swarm itself. There was no increased deformation during the swarm. The deformation and the uptick in gases being emitted, which we spoke about in Pevolca back in January, is the same. But we are monitoring very closely and will keep informing of any change," Dominguez told us.
~ GeoTenerife Team
