Strongest quake experienced since volcanic eruption on La Palma

The Canary Island of La Palma has been shaken by the strongest earthquake since the volcanic eruption almost six weeks ago.

The earth tremors in the early hours of Saturday morning registered a magnitude of 5 and were felt all over La Palma and partly also on three other Canary Islands, Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro, the state television station RTVE reported, citing the Spanish National Geographical Institute (IGN).

No significant damage was reported.

Since the volcanic eruption, there have been dozens of quakes on La Palma every day.

Since all earth tremors continue to occur at depths of well over 30 kilometres, they do not pose a significant danger, according to experts.'

Volcano to remain active

However, they do indicate that the volcano in the Cumbre Vieja mountain range in the south of the Atlantic island off the west coast of Africa will remain active for some time.

This is not necessarily bad news for the economy of the small Spanish island with about 85,000 inhabitants, because the volcano has become a major tourist attraction in the meantime.

It attracted a particularly large number of visitors during the long weekend with the All Saints' Day public holiday on Monday, according to RTVE. However, official figures were not available at first.