El Hierro, Canary's - Red-Alert, Eruption Underway

[GCANE]

Canary Island volcanic eruption may be imminent


http://www.catholic.org/international/i ... atest+news

[GCANE]

Incoming - large quake.

[GCANE]

Incoming - large quake.

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/ear ... ?id=237504

[WeatherLovingDoc]

From the article above, I read the last two paragraphs without full comprehension. What do others make of these words about a mega tsunami and it's effects? I don't understand how an island splitting in two would cause such devastation, but perhaps it's the degree of core magma that flows, pushing ocean water, that is the source.

"Researchers are also noting that the island of El Hierro is not the well-known island of La Palma, which may be bisected by a previously undetected fault. Researchers have long warned that an eruption on La Palma could cause the island to split further in two (there is already a crack that bisects the island) and slide into the ocean.

This would cause a mega-tsunami that would virtually destroy every coastal city on the on the east coasts of North and South America as well as potentially wiping out cities in Western Europe and the Caribbean Islands."'

Oh-here's a link that gives some further perspective: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/09/29/el-hierro-awakening/
100 meters = 328 feet

[GCANE]

From what I heard in the past, there is geological evidence that El Hierro has also caused mega-tsunami's.

You can see above that there are three know slides.

So, will El Hierro do it again?

I think there is more a risk that La Palma creates a mega-tsunami then El Hierro.

El Hierro is speculated to be a more Hawaiian style eruption, so supposedly no explosive activity to create a landslide and subsequent tsunami.

Also heard that if El Hierro erupts, it could be a trigger for La Palma.

[GCANE]

La Palma simulations:


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArcWdSjAkRY&feature=related[youtube][/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oFFPtZwYE8&feature=related[/youtube]

[GCANE]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMqH1n9KQx8&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

[Aslkahuna]

The ultimate threat of a mega tsunami is not tied to any particular type of eruption but rather to the structural stability of the landmass built up by the volcano (which tend to be unstable). Hawai'i, in fact, has had large avalanches causing very high tsunamis in the past due to the collapse of unstable slopes-there is a fissure developing on the Big Island very much like the one on La Palma right now.

Steve

[GCANE]

[GCANE]

Magma on the move in El Hierro, Canary Islands

This is happening faster then I expected. But it seems that magma is now on the move upwards in El Hierro volcano in Canary Islands. This is evident by the earthquake patterns that are emerging from the volcano. Given the earthquake locations, most likely place for a eruption to take place is out on the ocean based on that. But sometimes magma can find different pathways up the surface without a lot of warning.

Latest earthquake map from Instituto Geográfico Nacional that shows clearly the earthquake pattern since the dike intrusion did start in El Hierro. Copyright of this picture belongs to Instituto Geográfico Nacional.



At the moment it is impossible to know when and where a eruption might start. It depends on many factors. But it is now clear that magma is on the move upwards. So far the magma seems to be around 10 km up in the earth crust under El Hierro. So it is clear that the magma is on the way up and most likely preparing for a eruption.

http://www.jonfr.com/volcano/

[GCANE]

El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain

27.73 N, 18.03 W
summit elevation 1500 m
shield volcano

El Hierro volcano is the westernmost, youngest and smallest of the Canary Islands.

In the 2nd century A.D., Ptolemy considered it the western-most position of the world.

El Hierro Island covers an area of 278 sq km, and contains three well-defined ridges, arranged at approximately 120 degrees.

According to the hotspot model of volcano formation, the current location of the Canary islands hotspot is under Hierro Island.

El Hierro volcano is still in its juvenile stage of shield growth, and has been modified by gravitational spreading which caused gigantic landslides.

There are three volcanic structures on El Hierro Island - elongated topographic ridge (the Southern Ridge) and two semi-circular volcanic cones (Tinor volcano, El Golfo volcano).

Tinor Landslide was the earliest and directed to the northwest of Hierro Island.

El Julan produced a 15 km wide embayment in the southwest of the island.
The landslide was approximately 60–120 cubic km in volume, and covered 1600 sq km of ocean floor.

Las Playas Landslide directed SE and had a volume of 25-35 cubic km.

El Golfo, Debris Avalanche
El Golfo is a major debris avalanche on the northern flank of Hierro Island, dated about 13,000 years ago.
It has a width of 15 km and a scarp height of 1000 m. The landslide deposited 150-180 cubic km of debris on the seafloor down to a depth of 3000 m.

2011 Earthquakes
An earthquake swarm occurred at El Hierro volcano in July 2011 with 720 earthquakes measured in a week.
The earthquakes were measured between magnitude 1-3, and most were at a depth of 5-15 km.
The swarm occurred at El Golfo in the northwest of the island at the location of a landslide that created a 100 metre high tsunami about 50,000 years ago.

http://www.volcanolive.com/hierro.html

[Nightwatch]

There is no hard evidence for a tsunami in El Hierro history right?
Only thoughts and ideas?

I really wonder if this one is gonna blow soon... looks more like it every day

[GCANE]

The Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) has reported surface deformations exceeding 35mm on the Spanish island of El Hierro, where residents have been alert for a possible volcanic eruption. The number of earthquakes recorded since July 17 on the smallest of The Canary Islands exceeded 9250 on Tuesday morning. IGN confirmed on Monday that 1172 earthquakes were recorded last week, the majority of which were located in the sea to the SW of the 280-sqkm island. 52 of the earthquakes were felt by the local population, estimated to be approximately 10,000. A further 10 earthquakes, exceeding 3.0 magnitude on the Richter Scale, were felt during Monday and early on Tuesday. Hierro, a shield volcano, has had a single historic eruption from the Volcan de Lomo Negro vent in 1793. The eruption lasted approximately one month and produced lava flows. The recent surge in the number and intensity of earthquakes prompted officials from the IGN and The Canary Islands Government to raise the alert level for the Hierro volcano to ‘Yellow’ late last month.

Seismologists say the majority of the earthquake activity has shifted from El Golfo in the island’s northwest to beneath the Las Calmas Sea in the south. However, magma is now on the move upwards while the depth of earthquakes has become increasingly shallow in recent days with most being recorded at a depth of 10 to 14 kilometres. Movement of magma towards the surface signifies that a volcanic eruption is likely to happen, but the timing of such remains unclear. Volcanologist Juan Carlos Carracedo last week suggested that an eruption on El Hierro would “not be a major surprise”. He explained: “It is the youngest of the Canary Islands. There is a ball of magma which is rising to the surface and it is stationed at the limit of the earth’s crust. At the moment we do not know if that ball of magna will break the crust and cause an eruption.” IGN Director, María José Blanco said that any eruption on El Hierro would most likely have a “low explosion value”.

A dramatic rise in recorded earthquakes on El Hierro last Tuesday prompted officials to evacuate some local residents, shut El Hierro’s main tunnel, and close local schools. The Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) advised almost 50 residents of the municipality of La Frontera to leave their homes because of landslide fears. Two units of the Spanish military’s emergency intervention unit (EMU) were also placed on standby to depart the nearby island of Tenerife to assist in the possible evacuation of hundreds of other El Hierro residents. Meanwhile, the island’s main tunnel (Tunel del Golfo), which links Frontera to Valverde, was shut forcing motorists to travel across the 280-sq-km island via a mountain road. The Cabildo de El Hierro also ordered the closure of schools on Wednesday.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?page ... &uid=11491

[GCANE]

Interesting:

Ground deformation is 35mm UP at El Hierro and 37mm DOWN at Tenerife and La Palma.

[GCANE]

There is no hard evidence for a tsunami in El Hierro history right?
Only thoughts and ideas?

I really wonder if this one is gonna blow soon... looks more like it every day

Landslides and tsunami

There is evidence of at least three major landslides that have affected El Hierro in the last few hundred thousand years.[12] The most recent of these was the 'El Golfo' landslide that occurred about 15 thousand years ago, involving collapse of the northern flank of the island. The landslide formed the El Golfo valley and created a debris avalanche with a volume of 150–180 km3. Turbidite deposits related to this landslide have been recognized in drill cores from the Agadir Basin to the north of the Canary Islands.[13] Detailed analysis of these deposits suggests that the slope failure did not occur as a single event but a series of smaller failures over a period of hours or days. Local tsunami are likely to have been triggered by these landslides but no evidence has been found to confirm this.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Hierro

[HurricaneBill]

The eruption will probably be like the eruptions that occur at Kilauea and Mt. Etna.

[GCANE]

The eruption will probably be like the eruptions that occur at Kilauea and Mt. Etna.

What is notably interesting is the deformation on the other islands, particularly La Palma.

[GCANE]

Uh oh, this is troubling.

Here is the GPS measurements from La Palma.

Last two measurements are showing a sudden rise. It is flagged as rapid.

[GCANE]

[Nightwatch]

what do these figures and measurements mean?