The National Geographic Institute (IGN) has recorded 79 low-magnitude earthquakes beneath Tenerife over the past two days, with most of the activity concentrated beneath the western area of Las Cañadas del Teide.

According to the IGN, the seismic activity occurred between Thursday and Friday and consisted of several short bursts of low-frequency volcanic tremors.

While the number of earthquakes may sound significant, experts stress that the activity does not increase the risk of a volcanic eruption in the short or medium term.

Several Seismic Pulses Detected

The first burst of activity was detected at 5:14am on Thursday, 18th June, and lasted for just 11 minutes.

During that period, scientists recorded 16 earthquakes at depths ranging between 8 and 17 kilometres below sea level. Magnitudes were very low, ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 on the Richter scale.

Further seismic activity began later that afternoon at 4:42pm and continued intermittently until 5:21am this morning (Friday).

During this second phase, monitoring systems automatically detected 63 seismic events, although only 14 have so far been accurately located.

These earthquakes occurred at depths between 8 and 15 kilometres and registered magnitudes of between 0.4 and 0.8 on the Richter scale.

The majority of the earthquake epicentres were located beneath the western side of Las Cañadas, an area where similar activity has been recorded on previous occasions.

Similar to Earlier Activity

The IGN says the latest seismic activity resembles episodes recorded in February and March this year, although the current events are weaker and release less energy.

Scientists classify most of the earthquakes as "hybrid events", which contain a high proportion of low-frequency signals and differ from the more common volcano-tectonic earthquakes often associated with rock fracturing underground.

Importantly, the activity has not followed a repeating pattern and none of the earthquakes were felt by residents.

No Increased Eruption Risk

The IGN has emphasised that the current seismic activity does not indicate an increased volcanic threat for Tenerife.

The organisation, which is responsible for volcanic monitoring in Spain, operates a network of more than 100 monitoring stations, instruments and sampling points across the island.

These systems continuously analyse seismic activity, ground deformation and volcanic gases in real time to identify any changes that could indicate evolving volcanic activity.

At present, scientists say the data shows no signs of an increased eruption risk, but monitoring remains ongoing as part of Tenerife's permanent volcanic surveillance programme.

For residents and visitors, the message from experts is clear: while the recent earthquake swarm is being closely monitored, there is currently no cause for alarm.