MADRID — The island of La Palma suffered 36 earthquakes in the early hours of Saturday morning, as it went into the 28th day since the start of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, with one of those the strongest felt on the island during the current volcanic episode.

A quake of 4.6 on the Richter Scale was measured in the municipality of Mazo at a depth of 37 km at 04:41 local time (03:41 GMT) by the Spanish Geographical Institute (IGN), followed by a further quake measuring 4.5 at 6:07 (05:07 GMT) in the same area.

The quakes were measured after the volcano opened another mouth on the south-east face of its main cone Friday night. The fissure mouth began to eject ash and pyroclastic material shortly before 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT).

The volcano continues to behave in a "Strombolic" manner, with periods of high explosivity and others of relative calm, although TV images show what has been described as a fast-moving "Tsunami" of lava cascading down its slopes Friday evening.

Island authorities calculate that 732 hectares of land have been affected by the lava, leading to the destruction of 1,548 buildings according to the Copernicus satellite and causing the evacuation of over 7,000 people since the start of the eruption on Sept. 19. — Agencies