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A dozen new earthquakes shake Tenerife after nearly a week of calm
Twelve tremors have been recorded under Las Cañadas del Teide, but volcanologists say an eruption is not on the cards
After nearly a week of quiet, a dozen earthquakes have been recorded beneath Las Cañadas del Teide in Tenerife, raising fresh questions about what's going on under Spain's most famous volcano.
The National Geographic Institute (IGN) detected 12 earthquakes between 9.45pm on Tuesday March 3 and 6am on Wednesday March 4, at depths of between 8 and 14 kilometres, with the largest reaching a magnitude of 1.4 mbLg.
It follows seven separate seismic swarms that rattled the area throughout February, the last of which ended around a week ago.
Itahiza Domínguez, director of the IGN in the Canary Islands, was keen to put the latest activity into context, stressing that these are not swarm events but rather loose, isolated tremors with a higher frequency content, similar to activity that has been recorded in the same area on and off for years.
That said, he acknowledged that the current situation demands close attention.
"A month and a half ago this activity would not have had greater relevance, but taking into account the context we are in, we will continue to be very attentive in case something changes," Mr Domínguez said.
"I am not going to venture to say that this is over and that we will not have this type of activity for a long time. Tomorrow we could have swarms again or it could change and there will be another type of activity," he added.
Mr Domínguez believes the February swarms were triggered by a build-up of fluids and overpressure beneath the surface, though he stressed that conditions have changed since then.
"We have not seen that again, but it does not mean that it won’t be repeated," he said, adding that neither the swarms nor the latest earthquakes should be taken as signs of an eruption in the short or medium term, meaning weeks or months.
Image: Parque Nacional de Teide
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