Emergency workers gave people living between the cities of Tazacort and La Laguna a few hours to collect their belongings and pets and drive to a meeting point.
The Spanish National Geographic Institute said that during the morning, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake shook the island – the strongest of the 100 earthquakes in the eruption area in the past 24 hours.
Almost continuous aftershocks have been recorded since before the eruption.
With no end to the eruption, which is in its fourth week, officials said they were expecting lava flows to the northwest from the volcano.
Red hot lava has already devastated nearly 600 hectares of land and destroyed nearly 1,500 homes and other buildings, including a cement plant that gave off toxic fumes earlier in the week.
The influx has also consumed banana and avocado plantations vital to the island’s economy.
According to the official register, 300 people live in the area located between Tzacourt and La Laguna.
A small group of 10 to 15 people living nearby had already left on Wednesday evening. More than 6,000 people have been evacuated on the island of 83,000 people.
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