AlQa'dah 15, 1432, Oct 13, 2011, SPA -- Fresh earthquakes on Thursday rocked the Spanish island of El Hierro in the Canaries, which has experienced a recent string of volcanic eruptions, dpa reported. The National Geographic Institute registered seven earthquakes, the strongest of which were of magnitude 2.1. The smallest of the Canary Islands has experienced about 10,000 earthquakes since July 19 in a sign of rising magma. A process of volcanic eruptions began on Sunday, with the sea floor expelling magma through two outlets. One of them is at a depth of 750 metres 3.7 kilometres off the coast and the other as close as 2.8 kilometres at a depth of 500 metres. The eruptions are occurring south of the fishing village of La Restinga, from where about 600 people were evacuated Tuesday. They included 31 tourists. Two dark magma spills smelling of sulfur have confirmed that eruptions are taking place. Gases emitted by the eruptions killed fish that were found floating on the surface. Experts said the gases did not present a danger to the island's 10,000 residents. The eruptions were not expected to become large enough to produce significant waves. Tourists on the Canary Islands should not worry, because the eruptions off El Hierro relieved possible volcanic pressure on other islands, German expert Birger Luehr said. Spanish experts were to investigate the effects of the eruptions in coastal waters. Spain had not seen a volcanic eruption since 1971, when the Teneguia volcano erupted on the Canary Island of La Palma. There were no casualties.
