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El Hierro volcano (Canary Islands, Spain): eruption updateSaturday Oct 15, 2011 17:23 PM | Age: 224 days
The ongoing submarine eruption south of El Hierro, the first eruption in the Canaries in 40 years, continues from probably 2 vents at depths below 250 m under the water surface. It seems that the eruption is the submarine equivalent of a typical fissure eruption as often observed on basaltic shield volcanoes. Above the vents, large plumes of discolored water are visible and can be detected even on satellite images from space. A strong odour of sulfur can be detected on land. The port town of La Restinga has been evacuated and ships and aircraft are now banned from the area. Unless the eruption proceeds to shallower levels from about less than 50-60 m water depth, either by the accumulation of volcanic material above the vents, or by a upward propagation of the eruption fissure towards the coast, it is unlikely that the activity will become dangerous for the coastal areas. Should the eruption proceed to shallower levels, however, the risk of explosive eruptions increases drastically as the water pressure to contain explosions becomes too low.
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El Hierro volcano (Canary Islands, Spain): alert level raised to red and evacuationsTuesday Oct 11, 2011 16:38 PM | Age: 228 days
BY: TOM PFEIFFER The volcanological observatory of the Canaries ahs raised the volcanic alert level to the maximum "Red" for the southernmost city on the island, La Restinga, and the government of the Canaries has announced to evacuate the population of La Restinga as a measure of precaution. In the meanwhile, there is little doubt that a submarine eruption is in progress 5 km off shore south of El Hierro. Due to the depth of the eruption at 600 m below the surface, there is not visible activity for now, but the intensity and location of volcanic tremor and the sighting of lots of dead fish above the spot are speaking a clear language.
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Links / Sources: Previous newsSunday, Aug 21, 2011
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