The Canary Islands Seismic Network, operated by the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan), has been registering a new wave of low-magnitude seismic events in the Las Cañadas del Teide area since 10:01 p.m. yesterday, Monday, which has also been detected by the National Geographic Institute (IGN).
As reported by Involcan, 32 of them have been located as of 05.58 hours on Tuesday. Hypocenters are generally located at depths between 7 and 13 km. The maximum magnitude observed has been 1.5 and the total seismic energy released is equivalent to that of a magnitude 1.9 earthquake.
Since July 2017 in Tenerife and its surroundings, 53 seismic swarms have been detected (events that lead to the location of a minimum of 10 earthquakes in a relatively short period). The most relevant was recorded on May 27, 2020, when over a dozen hours, 69 earthquakes located between Vilaflor and Guía de Isora were recorded.
The occurrence of seismic swarms in Tenerife, as well as the general increase in the island’s seismicity as of June 2017, reflects a pressurization process of the volcanic-hydrothermal system, probably linked to the injection of gases of magmatic origin into the system.
From Involcan they emphasize that this new seismic swarm does not represent any danger for residents and visitors of Tenerife given the small magnitude and depth of the earthquakes. The Institute recalls that the volcanic traffic light is in the green position and in the short and medium term no significant change in volcanic activity is expected in Tenerife.
