Canarian Weekly newspaper - distributed across Tenerife to 1000's of residents & tourists every week

The Earth Moved in Tenerife - 16.05.2008
Last week some areas of the island of Tenerife experienced an earthquake of 3.4 degrees on the Richter scale, with the epicentre at sea some 24 kilometres east of Tenerife, it was widely felt in some areas of the island, informed the National Geographic Institute, although according to sources there was no news of damage. The director of the Centre Geophysical Canary Islands, María José Blanco, reported that seismic movements of this intensity occur several times a year in the fault system between Tenerife and Gran Canaria, but this time it has been felt by more of the population because the earthquake occurred closer than usual to the coast of Tenerife. The earthquake occurred at 0845 hours local time, last Tuesday. The emergency services of 112 received "multiple calls" from citizens of the area that goes from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Tacoronte communicating that they felt a tremor. The epicentre of the earthquake was located 28.44 degrees north latitude and to 16.01 degrees west longitude, at a depth of 33 kilometres. This place is situated 24 kilometres east of the coast of the capital of the island, and for that reason has been widely felt, although it is an earthquake of moderate intensity, explained María José Blanco. The director of the Centre Geophysical Canaries noted that 90% of seismic movements of the Canary Islands are recorded, as this, in the fault system located between the Canary Islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.