Pico Viejo – Teide earthquake swarm on Tenerife, Canary Islands – Potentially decisive magma intrusion as more than 500 earthquakes hits the giant volcano

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Teide volcano on Tenerife, Canary Islands, is currently being hit by a series of small earthquakes.

The swarm, that has started on June 14, 2019, counts already 512 earthquakes of small magnitude and hits right under the main Teide’s crater. Volcanologists believe the swarm is linked to magma intrusion.

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More than 500 earthquakes hit the Teide volcano on Tenerife, Canary Islands Between June 14-15, 2019. Earthquake map via IGN

On June 14, 2019, at 2:28 pm (UTC), the seismic network of IGN has located a hybrid earthquake of magnitude 1.9 MbLg at 13 km depth southwest of Pico Viejo.

This first quake was followed by a series of 512 low-magnitude earthquakes, culminating at 5:58 pm (UTC) with another larger M1.6 Mblg earthquake on June 15, 2019.

earthquake swarm tenerife Teide volcano
Earthquake swarm hits Teide volcano on Tenerife. IGN

512 earthquakes within less than 24 hours is pretty impressive, no? And those just below a dangerous volcano.

Tenerife / Teide - seismicity of 14.06.2019 - Doc IGN.es
Teide volcano seismic activity. Map IGN

The cause of this seismic swarm is related to the injection of magmatic fluids into the volcanic hydrothermal system of the island of Tenerife.

Tenerife / Teide - seismicity of 14.06.2019 - Doc IGN.es
Teide volcano seismic activity. Map IGN

This activity is consistent with the seismicity recorded on the island of Tenerife during the last three years. 

Meanwhile, no significant deformations have been registered through the GPS network. It is therefore unlikely that these quakes are related to the superficial magmatic system.

You can follow the earthquake swarm on the IGN website.

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