Tenerife has 100 mini earthquakes leading to fears giant volcano Mount Teide will blow
Researchers monitoring 'abnormal' activity as residents call for evacuation plan
THERE are fears a volcano on the holiday island of Tenerife could ERUPT after nearly 100 mini earthquakes were reportedly recorded in just four hours at the weekend.
There was a huge spike in tectonic activity near Mount Teide in the early hours of Sunday, according to the Volcanology Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan).
It reported 92 microquakes in Adeje and Vilaflor -- with one measuring as high as 1.5 on the Richter scale.
A team of experts has been sent to the area where they recorded an "abnormal" amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- an indicator that an eruption could be imminent.
Most of the mini earthquakes happened deep underground -- some as deep as 13km below the surface -- sparking fears the famous volcano which formed the island could blow.
Involcan said in a statement: “We are registering an important seismic rally on the island of Tenerife.
“In principle, these earthquakes are very low magnitude, consistent with those that occur in active volcanoes.
“The number of earthquakes is provisional pending the analysis of the signals more closely, but we can qualify this activity as a seismic swarm whose pattern is an alignment with prevailing direction northeast to southwest ".
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Although Mount Teide is dormant -- with its last eruption in 1909 -- its fragile formation means that it is highly unstable.
Worried residents on the island have raised their fears with Involcan, suggesting that an evacuation plan should be put in place immediately.
Lucrecia Mesa González said: “And I wonder from my ignorance, are there any evacuation plans if necessary?
"We live on top of a volcano and we don't inform people about what we should do if it is the case of an eruption."
Just last week Involcan researcher Pedro Hernandez warned that the Canary Islands -- which welcome millions of tourists every year -- could experience an eruption as regularly as once every forty years, the reports.
However, a spokesperson from the Tenerife Tourism Corporation urged calm, saying: "Due to its volcanic origin, Tenerife is continuously monitored and any seismic activity associated with magma would be detected in very early stages.
"It is worth pointing out that the last volcanic eruption that took place on the island happened over 100 years ago, causing no personal injuries of any kind.";
The collection of Spanish islands off the coast of northwestern Africa were all formed by volcanic activity.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake recently hit the Italian city of Amatrice leaving hundreds injured and many dead.
The worst earthquake ever recorded was near Valdivia, southern Chile in 1960 with a magnitude of 9.5.
Experts believe a high magnitude earthquake could strike at any time along some of Earth’s major fault lines - and the scale could be apocalyptic.
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