Holiday hotspot the Canary Islands has been issued a volcano warning after almost 1,000 earthquakes were registered in just five days.
There are fears the La Cumbre Vieja volcano could erupt due to the intense seismic activity on the holiday island of la Palma.
Authorities have put the island on alert for possible eruption due to the series of small quakes under the volcanic ridge of the site.
In what scientists are calling an earthquake swarm, the 4,222 tremors have been detected since last Saturday by Spain's National Geographic Institute.
An earthquake swarm is a cluster of quakes in one area over a short period, and they can also indicate a potential eruption, The Sun reports.
In just five days, there have been almost a thousand earthquakes on the islands, with a yellow warning for an eruption issued by Canary Island's regional government on Tuesday.
Officials say there had no indication an eruption was imminent however have added the situation "could change quickly in the short term".
A scientific committee monitoring the activity has said the number of tremors has fallen on Thursday.
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Scientific Committee for the Special Civil Protection Plan and Emergency Response for Volcanic Risks warned there could be a rapid surge in quakes and kept the warning level, according to Spanish news agency Europa Press.
Volcanic warnings are issued through a colour system, ranging from green, yellow, orange, and red.
Before a volcano erupts, there is a gradual increase in seismic activity which can build up over a prolonged period of time.
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11 million cubic metres of molten rock have been pushed into the dormant volcanic ridge on La Palma, the Canary ISland sVolcanology Institute said.
The last eruption was recorded back in 1971 on La Palma, which has a population of around 85,000 people.
The strongest of the quakes measured so far had a magnitude of 3.4.
The Canary Islands are a volcanic archipelago made up of eight islands. At their nearest point to Africa, they are 60 miles from Morocco.
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