Yesterday, under the volcano La Cumbre Vieja in the southern part of the island, a strong swarm of earthquakes began. At the moment, more than 350 aftershocks have been recorded, including 14 earthquakes with magnitudes above 3.0 and 226 earthquakes from 2.0 to 2.9.
The strongest was the event of magnitude 3.4 at 00.46 am local time, which was felt by residents of nearby areas.
Most of the earthquakes occurred at shallow depths, about 8-12 km, which suggests that new magma is currently entering the reservoir under the volcano.
It is impossible to say at this stage whether this could lead to new volcanic activity, since no other signs of significant volcanic disturbances have yet been observed.
Similar swarms of earthquakes have occurred in the past, most recently at the end of December last year; however, then the earthquakes were deeper (at a depth of about 30 km), which may indicate that the magma rose higher in the underground storage of the volcano.
The volcano La Cumbre Vieja last erupted in 1971 and is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the Canary Islands. The situation clearly deserves close scrutiny.