Residents evacuated again as eruption coninues off Spanish island

The residents of La Restinga village on the south coast of the Spanish island of El Hierro were evacuated for the second time in less than a month due to threat from the eruption of the volcano off the island, according to Spanish media reports on Sunday. The decision to evacuate the 600 residents of the village was made late Saturday after a meeting of over 250 inhabitants and the administrative chief of El Pinar, the area where the village is situated. The volcano began erupting for a second time on last Monday, while the seismic activity off El Hierro has saw a marked increase with several tremors registering over 4 on the Richter Scale. With the eruption continuing off the south coast, the island has been placed on a state of 'pre-alert.' A military unit has already been dispatched to the area with enough tents to provide accommodation for up to 2,000 people, while merchant marine and civil aviation are also standing by in case a possible evacuation of the island's 10,000 inhabitants.