Posted on by Jón Frímann

Special report: Eruption at El Hierro volcano, Canary Islands

At 04:18 UTC on 10 October, 2011 a eruption did start somewhere close to the El Hierro volcano Island (but inside El Hierro volcano system). So far nothing has been seen to this eruption, so location is uncertain at the moment. At the moment this eruption has only been confirmed by harmonic tremors seen on seismometers on El Hierro island.

From what I can tell, based on the harmonic tremor plots. It seems that the eruption has been growing in size since it started well over 12 hours ago. This suggests that the eruption is growing in size. That also brings up the issue that new fissures might open, both into deeper ocean and on shallower depth and even on land without any warning at all.


The harmonic tremor from El Hierro at 21:08 UTC on 10 October, 2011. Copyright of this picture belongs to Instituto Geográfico Nacional.

A location for the eruption has been suggested, as can be see on this map here.


The speculated eruption in El Hierro. Copyright of this picture belongs to el-mundo.es Thanks to Dr. John v. Kampen for this map via email.

Lack of earthquakes does not mean that magma is not the move and has not reached the surface already. But this however suggests that magma now has a free flow upwards to the surface since sometimes yesterday, when the earthquake activity did drop suddenly from ~100 earthquakes to ~30 earthquakes over the day.


Current earthquake activity in El Hierro. It is my personal opinion that the eruption is around -18.05 and 27.65 to 27.70 (middle of that area, around 450 meter depth). Copyright of this picture belongs to Instituto Geográfico Nacional.


Spectral image of the harmonic tremor. This image clearly shows that the orgin of the harmonic tremor is magma on the move. Not something else. Copyright of this picture belongs to Instituto Geográfico Nacional.

I am going to update this blog post as more is known about the eruption in El Hierro.

Canary Island news about this. With thanks to Dr. John v. Kampen how did send them to me in a email.

Posible erupción al sur de El Hierro (Youtube, Spanish, Video)
¿Emergerá una nueva isla? (Youtube, Spanish, Video)

Blog post updated at 21:49 UTC on 10 October 2011.

529 Replies to “Special report: Eruption at El Hierro volcano, Canary Islands”

  1. The latest measured quake at 1439 local, an M2.0 at 12km depth, suggests there is plenty of lava left down below; also interesting is its position, well inland of most of the most recent activity:

    http://g.co/maps/g7xx4

  2. I have a nervous feeling about this. Lurkings plot looks a bit scary…long steep slope into deep ocean and pressure possibly building up within that slop somewhere half way up!

    Lurking Am i to infer that those are scarp faces covered by compacted slide material, where did you get this info from?

    1. Ever play in a sand lot as a kid? That’s just the way they work. That’s why I labled them as infered faces.

  3. Now also noted via Canaries News: 16:32 – The epicenter of recent seismic activity seems to be shifting toward the center of El Hierro. The National Geographic Institute expects higher intensity earthquakes, between 4 and 5 degrees, as the pressure of the lava underground searches for a point to escape.

  5. Canaries News
    @canariesnews Canaries News
    Epicenter of activity shifs toward the center of El Hierro. IGN expects higher intensity quakes, between 4 & 5 degrees.

  6. FUCK.

    Pardon my French, that is bestial indeed. Wall to wall.

    I can fly tonight for $500 arrive tomorrow PM. I think I will.

    Mike

    1. Jorge González Díaz Zapatero se reúne con los ministros a los 19.00h por la situación en el Hierro … the Kings too.

      1. From my translating you said “Jorge Gonzalez meets with ministers at 7.00pm to discuss the situation at El Hierro”

        Am I right? Close?

      2. Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will meet this afternoon at the Moncloa Palace with several ministers and a team of experts to analyze El Hierro the situation after alert volcanic risk in the south of the island has changed to red.

      2. Snedig!: Legg meg til på FB da hvis du vil og tør ^^ Kjekt med andre særinger!
        Etternavn: Paulsen

      3. Norway is cool, from what I saw during holidays, and as little compensation for my jokes in the afternoon… 😉

    1. a quote from that article: “but officials insist an eruption is not likely to be major”

      can this be said with any certainy? or is this a little irrisponsible on the part of the “officials”?

  14. 17:07-La Restinga is nearly empty. There are only journalists and security forces.

    17:05-The epicenter of recent seismic shifts toward the center of El Hierro. The National Geographic Institute expects higher intensity earthquakes, between 4 and 5 degrees, under the pressure of the lava in search of a new starting point.

    17:03, closes road to Pinar de la Restinga

  19. Just now: 1104627 11/10/2011 15:45:37 27.6625 -18.0223 17 2.7 mbLg SW EL PINAR.IHI [+]
    1104625 11/10/2011 15:21:21 27.7050 -18.0702 17 2.3 mbLg W EL PINAR.IHI

    1. If El Hierro will produce a Plinian… but yes, the accumulated force – judging from these images – seems to point at something bigger than VEI4…

      2. Not comparable to Alaska. Different chemistry, different structure of the surrounding. But if locals are secure when it happens, I’d be the first to appreciate the pictures if You are right.

      3. If magma does not meet water, it will be a Hawaiian eruption. If magma meets water, it depends…

  21. Did any of you watch Nautiluslive.org lately? Yesterday when the problem with the cable occured they talked live about the Chief considering going to el hierro but they said it would have taken the ship 2 days to get there and then maybe the eruption might be over and all they d get to see would be fresh lava.
    Now look at the ships course. It was on its way to return to Malaga but now it turned SSW. Are they headed for the canaries? Of course i know nothing, i just find it interesting.

  22. Antena3Canarias Antena 3 Canarias
    Alpidio Armas reconoce en Antena 3 Canarias que la erupción es inminente,antes de esta noche.Sígue la información más rigurosa en A3Canarias
    há 15 minutos

    2. Alpidio Armas said on Antena 3 Canarias (radio? tv?) that the eruption is iminent and will happen before tonight. Follow the most updated information on A3Canarias.
      15 min ago.

      1. Uh oh, five hours ’till my prediction is right. Please, señor Hierro, easy. Wednesday is a good day for eruption (central European time). Pleeeeease.

    1. A friend of mine recently got a very nice pay out after he wrote a theatening letter to the big tabloid that pinched one of his images

  30. I’ve failed to find a webcam looking south from the top of Hierro towards Restinga. The Las Puntas cameras seem to me to be looking west on the north side of the island, within the ‘caldera’ ( which is not a caldera)

  32. RTVC reporting:
    – 600 persons now successfully evacuated from La Restinga
    – Red Cross evacuation centre (sports hall) being prepared in Valverde
    – signs of discolouration in seawater south of Punta de la Restinga
    – pelagic tuna species being landed by scientists show signs of having been badly burned (whether by heat or chemical action not clear)
    – Spanish PM Zapatero and Cabinet meeting now to discuss emergency
    – submarine eruption site 5km south of Punta de la Restinga, 600m water depth
    (18:50 Canary Islands time)

    PS. Tuna species are very fast swimmers, and would only get caught by something sudden. They are very sensitive and would have cleared off if they had some warning…

    1. Does anyone have current links to El Hierro GPS deformation graphs (HI01, HI02, Hi03, HI04)?

  33. At AVCAN they discuss the dangers of CO2 and SO2. Is there possibility that (beside an eruption) this could be a great problem at El hierro?

    1. The most likely killer of an onland eruption would be from CO (not CO2) and SO2. They are emitted from volcanic eruption and they are cumulative in the blood-stream and will cause you to suffocate.

  34. Canaries Government Director General for Security & Emergencies and others holding a press conference live now… Wish I understood Spanish! Maybe AVCAN will have something later…
    http://www.rtvc.es/television/enDirecto.aspx?canal=tv

    AVCAN emphasising risk from accumulation of CO2 – for people to avoid hollows, enclosed spaces, low lying places, etc, especially if they see dead animals in them.

      2. I am using this link. All I get is a information screen. It was working first when I did try it. But not now. I am going to try a different browser.

  38. They are now showing video with lava under water. Ithink it’s really at el hierro…

    1. …but it could also an example like showing before from fidji…
      Sorry, I understand not enough spanish…

    3. might be…if a generous spaniard can translate this:
      “estas imagenes del west mata, en las islas fiji, son las primeras que se han visto de une erupcion de este tipo”
      btw… google transillate gives…
      “These images of the west kills, Fiji islands are the first who have seen this type eruption links”

      1. Ah, this is only a example : the first pictures from an underwater vulcano at the fji island. Not El Hierro!

      2. These images of the west mata (?), on Fiji islands, are the first ever taken/seen of this type of eruption.
        So no, not El Hierro.

  39. As much as I find developments at El Hierro fascinating and scientifically unique, I/We should not forget that these are real people on El Hierro, with real lives, and real worries.

    For example, although residents and vistors of La Restinga have been successfully evacuated to Valverde (capital of El Hierro) this evening, there is one old lady who still refuses to leave her home; has told officials that if she is going to die, she will die at home. Understandable reaction. But there are real tears in the eyes of neighbours trying to convince her to come out with them to safety.

    1. Of course Andy, this is a dilemma when looking at the situation from far away. But maybe we do help by looking and asking questions, maybe media get better information or other persons in need of information.

      No one can stop a volcano.

    2. Everyone has the right to forge his own fate. They live on a volcano, today we have the chance to tell them now it the time to go. It’s horrible, but now either you take her right to decide where she wants to be or you let her the right to stay, but then society shouldn’t be blamed for the consequences. In my opinion life is worth more than any material stuff, from which you know it s not safe on an active volcano. It’s about living or dying. No more place or time for material matters or the inability to manage once feelings.
      As a scientist you spend your whole life studying nature to help people choosing where to live and deciding to leave when it’s time. What could you do more? My life is dedicated to hazard prevention, if people don’t want to listen, there comes a point where it really is no more of my responsibility. I’m very sorry for them, but will enjoy the show nevertheless.

  42. Any one seen anything about this in the British media?

    All I get when I search the BBC, news papers and SKY is adverts for holidays on El Hierro.

    1. But there is an advisory from the Foreign Office:

      “There continues to be seismic activity on the island of El Hierro in the Canary Islands. Following a volcanic tremor near the south side of the island of El Hierro on 11 October, local government authorities have raised the risk level from yellow to red and are evacuating residents from the area of La Restinga.

      Over the past 12 months there have been over 9,000 tremors, the largest measuring 4.3 on 8 October. The Canary Government has confirmed a small scale underwater eruption of volcanic gas 5km from the coast of El Hierro at a depth of 900m.

      • The Canary Government asks residents and visitors to be vigilant and to check the Canary Government website for updates. See Natural Disasters – volcanoes. We continue to liaise with the authorities and monitor the situation closely.”

      http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/spain

    2. Typical British media, would rather repeat old news than show current news.

      So inward looking, so much going on in the world, but all we get is some low scale scandal concerning politicians, repeated all day!

    3. I sent a message to CNN about El Hierro earlier today. Guess what?
      They answered:

      News Tips NewsTips@turner.com aan mij
      details weergeven 16:46 (4 uren geleden)
      Thank you for contacting CNN. This email is to notify you that your news tip has been received and will be reviewed in a timely manner. You will be contacted if the news tip is valid and we need further information and verification.
      We appreciate your news tip and thank you for choosing CNN as your breaking news source.
      Sincerely,
      CNN Viewer Communications Management
      “CNN, The Most Trusted Name In News”

  43. I am watching the live TV from the Canary Islands. I can’t understand all that is said but getting the gist of most of it. There are also some footage of the evacuation and the sea. I am concerned that the evacuation is not far enough away though. I would feel happier if all the people on the west side of the tunnel could be taken to the east side of the Island.

    2. Just looking at all the beds they have ready for casualties, I wish they would just move them all too 🙁

      1. Are you sure they are for casuatlties? I only speak little Spanish but thought they were for evacuees.

  44. Nothing at all in the main UK press – they need to see something to get interested! This is my best central source and I explore links from here – thanks to all

  45. Don’t think they have any video’s from what is happening now because they keep showing clips from everywhere else.

    1. Like everywhere else, the TV journalists take ‘Konserven’, as we call it in germany. Records of the past. What is missing is that they have a “Live”-Show sign in the corner of the screen. 🙂

    2. They actually said that they have no images. If it is under the sea at 1 km depth, there’s no way anyone can get there. he scientist who talked a real long time also said that they have no idea about the eruption, what type it is (gas, magma) and even that some scientists play with the hypothesis that there still was no eruption at all.
      Furthermore they showed the sports hall were the people who cannot stay with family or acquaintances up north will stay.

    3. Frank, if it is on “that site” it is most certainly wrong, alarmist, and meant to sell bomb-shelters to gullible americans that cannot refrain from worrying about odd things.
      No, the island is not sinking.

  47. How bad can this possibly get? Are we talking about the possibility of flank failures and landslides etc? In that case, I wouldn’t feel safe for the people anywhere on that island, or possibly other islands in the region.

    2. If (that’s a big if) the flank on the active side of the island fails, I think it would hit the west african coast, all the energy would be directed in that direction.

      1. The flanks of El Hierro has already failed. Failed flanks do not refail. Simple mechanics really. A failed place is probably the safest place to be around. Except if you have a volcanic eruption happening, but then the dangers are from other sources…

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