QUITO – Anomalous seismic activity and the lifting of the caldera floor of the Sierra Negra volcano, on Isabela Island, in the Ecuadorian archipelago of Galapagos, might be related to a new intrusion of magma, the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School reported Saturday.
Some seismic events, with magnitudes of less than 3, not always detectable by humans, have been recorded at the volcano, an IG source told EFE.
An increase in seismic activity has been noted for a few weeks, the source added.
“This anomalous activity is interpreted as related to an intrusion of magma inside the volcano, at relatively shallow depths (a few kilometers) under the caldera,” the IG said in a report.
The Sierra Negra is one of the most active volcanoes in the Galapagos and six eruptive episodes have occurred in the last 70 years, most recently in 2005.
In addition to the seismic activity, studies of satellite images show expansion of the caldera floor of this volcano, the report added.
The Sierra Negra volcano is located on Isabela Island, the largest of the archipelago, located about 1,000 kilometers from the Ecuadorian continental coast.
The Galapagos Islands were in 1978 inscribed as a site of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO).