In the latest update from their ongoing tracking of the Canary Islands, the
Earthquake Report (ER) is indicating that a Surtseyan eruption of the
El Hierro volcano is imminent.
 |
Surtseyan eruption: 1 water vapor cloud, 2 cupressoid ash, 3 crater, 4 water, 5 layers of lava and ash, 6 stratum, 7 magma conduit, 8 magma chamber, 9 diked caption |
Update 03/11 – 19:30 UTC:
Raymond Matabosch, The French volcano follower (see separate article) told us that he will spend the night in a tent at the El Julan heights, which have a great view on the Las Calmas sea. Raymond is convinced that, if the current harmonic tremor /seismic activity continues, a Surtseyan eruption will occur within the next few hours or days, and he does not want to miss such an event.
96 species of fish have been affected by the eruption. There are no signs of any marine life within a radius of 1.5 km from the eruptive mouth. In an extended radius of 3 miles, there is almost no marine life perceivable until a depth of 200 meter. Below 700 meter depth and further than 1.5 mile from the eruption vent, marine life is not affected anymore. The results have been reported by Marine professor Alberto Brito from the University of La Laguna, Canary Islands.
Update 03/11 – 19:20 UTC:
Harmonic tremor continues to be very strong and indicates that the eruptive process increases again. The quakes became weaker when the harmonic tremor strengthened. This also happened with the first Jacuzzi or burbuja episode. Pevolca is still together discussing the present situation.
Update 03/11 – 08:12 UTC:
Pevolca has announced yesterday evening that based on yesterday’s data, they could not conclude that an eruption is imminent. Increasing harmonic tremor and a turbulent seismogram are contradicting the words of Pevolca. The IGN scientists at Pevolca have however a lot more data than published on the IGN website.- Some of the more experienced amateur volcano followers have other opinions, although they admit that not having all the data is a problem to have a truly good view on the situation. The discussions go often very deep and tend to become very technical. One of the problems for scientists is that the past Surtseynian eruptions like the ones that happened in Iceland and in the Azores, are not as documented as eruptions are today, which make comparisons rather difficult. IGN has listed 19 earthquakes since midnight, the strongest one being a 2.7 to the West of Frontera. The depth varies in between 12 km and 22.10 km. Nothing special one would say, but harmonic tremor is indicating constant magma stress below the volcano. - ER.
According to
Wikipedia, the following constitutes a Surtseyan eruption:
A Surtseyan eruption is a type of volcanic eruption that takes place in shallow seas or lakes. It is named after the island of Surtsey off the southern coast of Iceland. These eruptions are commonly phreatomagmatic eruptions, representing violent explosions caused by rising basaltic or andesitic magma coming into contact with abundant, shallow groundwater or surface water. Tuff rings, pyroclastic cones of primarily ash, are built by explosive disruption of rapidly cooled magma. Other examples of these volcanoes: Capelinhos, Faial Island, Azores; and Taal Volcano, Batangas, Philippines.
The following seismogram from the
National Institute of Geography (IGN) illustrates this harmonic tremor and the constant magma stress.
UPDATE: Harmonic Tremors Developing With New Bursts of Activity!
The following constitutes the latest updates from
Earthquake Report (ER).The volcano remains very active. Harmonic tremor is still very strong with regular bursts of activity. Another important detail from the picture series published by the government this morning. Hot eruptive material. New images and video published by the Canary Islands Government are showing a long range of jacuzzis, by far the strongest eruptions so far. The set of pictures shows a lot of eruptive details. Scientists of IGN who could overfly the area this morning are now convinced that they have lined up the different eruptive submarine vents. It looks more and more that Las Calmas sea eruptions are fissure like vents opening up at different places...
Joke Volta reports from La Restinga: We just went from El Pinar to La Restinga. A very sulfurous ‘rotten egg’ odor was noticed on parts of the road. The viewpoint towards the Las Calmas sea is showing multiple Jacuzzi spots close to the island. [I believe] the jacuzzi to be closer to La Restinga than last week... A big mystery is the coloring in the El Golfo bay. was this coloring created by the sea currents or by new activity. The dark green patches can also be seen in the El Golfo area
16 + M1.5 earthquakes since midnight, 15 were greater than 2 and 10 were greater than 2.5. Based on the data above, it looks that the seismic activity will further increase today. We expect that we will have multiple +3 quakes during the rest of the day.
- we are not sure at all, but it looks that the new Jacuzzi location is different from the October 10 one. If this would be true then the place of the current eruption will have another depth... Earthquakes are getting stronger again. Just recently at 23:06 a quake at 22 km depth measuring M 3.2 occurred NW of Frontera (the first one today above 3).
Read more
HERE. Here is a video presentation of the degassing lava fragments on the surface of the Calm Sea at La Restinga in El Hierro.
WATCH: Lava Fragments.
Images obtained in a flyby of Emergency and Rescue Group (GES) of the Canary Islands on the alignment of the emission zones eruptive process.
WATCH: Flight of GES.
UPDATE: Strong Quakes and Fears of Landslides Force Road Closures!Here is an edited version of the latest updates:
Very strong harmonic tremor continues to feed the current eruptive vents... A strong magnitude 4.4 occurred at 20:36 UTC West of Frontera. It was felt as a IV MMI light shaking. First reports from Frontera are mentioning NO damage. These quakes are threatening the re-opened ‘Los Roquillos’ tunnel. Mr. Santana, chief safety of PEVOLCA declared earlier this week that from 4.5 on, the situation of the tunnel has to be reviewed... Pevolca has reported tonight that the eruptive vents have never been so close to the coast then today. The fissure has been opened on various locations. They have not specified distances however... The 4.4 earthquake has triggered a number of landslides / rockfall in the Sabinosa / Guinea area. People were so frightened in the El Golfo bay area that they stayed on the streets for some time. Based on our earthquake experience, we can stress that earthquakes with a hypocenter below 20 km will seldom generate damage below M 5.0 (and that’s a lot stronger). Cracks in walls and collapsing old badly maintained stalls are always possible though... New 3.6 magnitude earthquake occurred at 00:16 UTC in the Puerto Naos area. The depth: 11 km. The quake was felt by islanders.
The Director of the Civil Protection Plan for Volcanic Risk (PEVOLCA) has decided this evening to close the tunnel access road until 7.30 am as a preventive measure due to the 4.4 earthquake which took place at 20:36 hours. The possibility that a larger quake could occur according to the National Geographic Institute (IGN) required the notification to the public. The opening of the tunnel in the morning will be done with surveillance and security measures in place. The families living in 11 houses in Las Puntas have been evacuated out of fear of damaging landslides. 3 rather strong earthquake respectively 3.0, 3.5 and 3.9 have struck the El Golfo area to the North West of Frontera. The focal depths were in between 20 and 21 km (as most of the others before). The big difference with prior periods is that we now are having AND continuing strong earthquakes AND also INCREASED STRONG harmonic tremor. The rescaled IGN graph (yesterday evening) is almost saturated again. All this means very strong volcanic action below El Hierro...

We expect that Pevolca is re-considering the (partly) closure of the Los Roquillas tunnel due to the frequent and strong earthquakes. The landslides and rockfall yesterday evening at Las Puntas (greater Frontera area) and the mandatory evacuation of 11 houses are indications in that direction... The coastal village / town of La Restinga is almost strangled by the current events. The village, mainly dependent on small fisherman and diving companies, is going through his hardest time since his existence. As all trade did came to a standstill since the early evacuation days, people have hardly something to eat!... Pevolca has just declared the closing (until further notice) of the Los Roquillos tunnel. Reason: risk of rockfall and landslides. The tunnel was already closed during the nightly hours, re-opened during the morning and awaiting a final verdict from Pevolca. The strong 4.4 earthquake from yesterday evening was probably the main trigger for the difficult decision... The decision of Pevolca will have more impact then before, because they also ordered the closure of a number of roads on the Al Golfo part of the island. Fear of landslides and rockfall is also here the reason. No additional action is planned at the moment for the volcanic risks.
UPDATE: Surtseyan Eruption Phase Has Started, Mass Evacuations!
New updates from Earthquake Report and Tumbit:
 |
Families evacuating La Restinga. |
Raymond Matabosch reports from his location at El Hierro that, following him, the Surtseyan Eruption phase has started. Burst of ash and water are ejected out of the sea every 30 to 40 minutes. The present very strong harmonic tremor accompanied by powerful bursts who occur every 30 to 40 minutes, may sustain the process for some time to come. If the current vents remain open, and if the bursts continue, the gases mixed with ash and steam will have to overcome the water column pressure. They almost did late this afternoon, and will probably continue trying to do so the next couple of hours. Once the pressure from below is strong enough to break the water resistance, fountains of steam mixed with ash will blow into the air. At first during the bursts (compare it with geysers) followed by more continuous fountains. If all this happens a few km out in the sea, the island will at max. get some ash showers. These kind of shallow depth eruptions coming above the surface are called Surtseyan eruptions... A car with loudspeakers is driving through the village calling for the evacuation. UME (military emergency unit) is helping with the evacuation. People are calm and are overpowered with what happens. At first people of La Restinga thought that the big black bubble was a boat. They were really surprised that it was the volcano getting more active. - Earthquake Report.
The Civil Protection Plan for Volcanic Risk in the Islands (PEVOLCA) monitoring the recent seismic activity on El Hierro have ordered the evacuation of the town of la Restinga, on the southern-most coast of the island, close to the recent underwater volcanic eruption. The decision was made after observing changes in the eruption, which has now increased in intensity, and has now been accompanied with plumes of ash. Around 250 residents of the town attended a meeting with the Mayor on the local football field, where they were advised by the Emergency Military Unit (UME) to leave their homes and seek temporary accommodation with friends or relatives, or, failing that, seek assistance and a temporary camp that has bee set up in nearby Valverde. Under normal circumstances the town of la Restinga houses around 600 residents, however many residents have still not returned to the town since the first evacuation took place on the 12th of October. - Tumbit.