Janet Anscombe

The Director of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional en Canarias, María José Blanco, has said that Tenerife has reached a phase of “seismic equilibrium” after the intense activity measured in 2004. The Canarian National Geographic Institute has an extremely good ability to localize any seismic movements, assured Sra Blanco, who added that in fact out of 83 minor quakes last year, only 4 were strong enough to be felt.

Sra Blanco explained that seismic activity in the Canaries had a range of origins, some being tectonic, associated with the movement of faults, particularly a northeast-southwest fault which, in 1989, produced the largest earthquake registered here, of grade 5.2 on the Richter scale, and which is unlikely to be exceeded according to all indications from the geodynamic expertise available today.

Other causes of seismic activity were of volcanic origin, and Sra Blanco made reference to the Professor of Geomorphology at the University of La Laguna, Carmen Romero, a specialist in the volcanic history of the Canaries. Prof Romero says that such quakes had an extremely deep volcanic origin, around 50 kms, and that the maximum number recorded was in 2004, since when seismic movement has decreased to what is now considered to be a new level of equilibrium.

For the moment, then, El Teide thankfully seems to be safe and quiet. C24H

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