MADRID: An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale shook El Hierro island in Spain's Canaries on Monday, the strongest of hundreds of tremblors recorded in recent days in the territory which suffered an undersea volcanic eruption in 2011, Spain's National Geographical Institute said Monday.

The earthquake struck at 3:41 pm (1441 GMT) and its epicentre was in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) west of the island, a spokesman for the institute said. It was measured at a depth of 16 kilometres and was preceded by another earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale.

About 800 earthquakes have been recorded in El Hierro, which has about 10,000 inhabitants, since March 18, the spokesman added.

The majority have measured above 2.0 on the Richter but only a handful have been strong enough for people on the island to notice.

In October 2011 an underwater volcano erupted off the coast of El Hierro, two days after an earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale rocked the island.

<Center><b><i>Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013</b></i></center>