Teide Volcano: First Unusual Internal Vibration Prompts Emergency Meeting
Tenerife's Teide volcano experienced an unprecedented hour-long internal vibration, prompting an emergency meeting of experts who, despite increased seismic activity, deemed it a normal part of the volcanic system's behavior.
An unusual internal vibration was detected inside Teide, a volcano on Tenerife, for the first time. It lasted for an hour and prompted an emergency meeting of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) on Tuesday. Officials and scientists, including experts from the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan), gathered to discuss the recent seismic activity on the island.
This vibration is part of a general increase in the volcano's seismic activity that began in 2023. In recent days, monitoring systems have picked up ninety small events. Experts call these "seismic pulses," which are different from typical earthquakes or earthquake swarms. These pulses are very weak and hardly noticeable. Scientists consider them a normal part of how Tenerife's volcanic system behaves.
During the Pevolca meeting, the IGN shared details about these "seismic pulses" occurring beneath Las Cañadas del Teide, specifically mentioning the one-hour vibration detected on Tuesday morning. Itahiza Domínguez, director of the IGN, explained that this kind of activity is common in active volcanoes worldwide. He also stressed that other important signs of volcanic activity show no changes. For instance, the ground has not shifted or deformed, despite being monitored for three years. Also, carbon dioxide levels coming from the crater, which had risen some years ago, are currently stable.