Shock map shows how La Palma has been hit by hundreds of earthquakes in just 15 hours sparking fresh fears its volcano will erupt
THE holiday destination of La Palma has been rocked by HUNDREDS of earthquakes in just 15 hours sparking fears its deadly volcano is about to blow.
A startling new map from the National Geographic Institute (NGI) shows exactly where the tremors have hit - mainly near the slopes of the massive Cumbre Vieja.
There were 44 "official" earthquakes recorded of up to 2.1 magnitude on the sun-soaked island between Friday at 1.52pm and Saturday at 4.17am.
However, experts believe the real figure could be as high as 352 - as many were too small to be officially recorded.
Experts from the NGI are now monitoring the tinderbox site round-the-clock.
A team of geologists will arrive on the isle for CO2 profiles and to research the structure and strength of the volcano.
The largest of the tremors which hit on 1pm on Saturday, registered 2.7 on the Richter scale and took place at 17.4 miles Underground.
This was narrowly followed by a quake of 2.6 at the same time on Sunday, and a third of 2.1 hitting the island at midnight on Monday.
Another ten tremors were recorded in the following hours.
Incredibly, the islanders did not actually feel the earthquake because the seismic movement is happening at a great depth.
However, worried government officials have called in volcano experts to examine the out of the ordinary seismic activity, which has been dubbed 'a seismic swarm.'
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Maria José Blanco, director of the National Geographic Institute on the island, said the island has never experienced a similar swarm.
The last time the volcano erupted was in 1971 but La Palma is considered to be the most active island in the archipelago.
This time last year, it was the turn of neighbouring island Mount Teide to be hit with a series of mini earthquakes, after experiencing 100 mini tremors in just four hours.
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