Earthquake felt on La Palma

Did the earth move for you?

Seismograph trace
Today’s seismograph from Valverde

We had an earthquake at 5:45 pm. The whole family felt it, which is unusual. (Normally I say, “What was that?” and the rest of the family reply, “What was what?” and nobody believes me until the evening news mentions it.) But this time was different. Most people on La Palma seem to have felt it, and my husband thinks it was bigger than any of the ones he remembers from the eruption of Teneguía.

Avcan, (Actualidad Volcánica de Canarias /Canarian Volcanic News) say it was magnitude 5.3 in El Hierro, the epicentre was west of the island, and it was just 12 km deep.

Clearly the magma under El Hierro is moving again. The centre of the island has risen 6 cm over the course of the year, and there are lots of little tremors – ten today. But this one was in a different league. My friend in La Frontera said she could see dust clouds from several small landslides.

Fortunately there are no reports of casualties.

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Posted by sheila

Sheila came to La Palma with a six month contract and has stayed 24 years so far. She used to work as a software engineer at the observatory, but now she's a writer and Starlight guide.

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