- 108 square mile island is home to 10,000 people
- More than 8,000 tremors have been recorded on island in the last two months
- Last eruption on El Hierro was in 1793 and lasted a month
- Residents put on standby for emergency evacuation over fears of landslides
By TOM WORDEN
Last updated at 11:23 AM on 29th September 2011
A holiday island popular with Britons is preparing for a mass evacuation because of a possible volcanic eruption.
Experts have recorded 150 tremors on El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, since yesterday - raising fears of an imminent eruption.
Last night 53 people were ordered out of their homes over fears of landslides and the army has been called in to prepare for a possible evacuation.
Seismic activity: Residents in El Frontera leave their homes last night. El Hierro has been hit by more than 150 tremors in the last 24 hours
About to blow? Parts of the Canary Island of El Hierro have been evacuated over fears of a volcanic eruption
Schools on the tiny island, home to 10,000 people, have been closed and a tunnel linking the two main towns - Frontera and Valverde - has been shut.
Volcano expert Juan Carlos Carrecedo said: 'There is a ball of magma rising to the surface producing a series of ruptures which generate seismic activity.
'We don't know if that ball of magma will break through the crust and cause an eruption.'
But he warned an eruption was possible 'in days, weeks or months'.
The last volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands took place on the island of La Palma in 1971.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042873/Earthquake-swarm-Canary-Island-El-Hierro-sparks-fears-volcanic-eruption.html#ixzz1aOCCFlkd
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