Volcano alert level raised as authorities prepare for mass evacuation

This latest map taken on March 25 shows the epicenters of the more than 2,000 earthquakes that have struck São Jorge Island since last week. Most of them are located on the northwest side of the island which is the most populous part of the island. Photo: CIVISA

The Center for Azores Seismic Volcanoes Information and Monitoring (CIVISA) has raised the volcano alert level on the Azores island of São Jorge, prompting authorities to prepare for a mass evacuation of the island of more than 8,300 people. Last week, more than 2,000 earthquakes hit the island of São Jorge, one of 9 islands that make up the Azores. While most earthquakes have been measured by sensitive instruments and not by islanders, more than 100 have been measured. There were no reports of property damage, injuries, or deaths at this time.

CIVISA raised the volcano alert to 4 on a 5-point scale due to the high seismic activity that has occurred on the island over the past week. The Civil Protection Agency has activated its regional emergency plan. The government is preparing to evacuate nearly 5,000 people from Vilas municipality while plans are being worked on to resettle vulnerable individuals among the hardest-hit residents.

If an eruption becomes imminent, the parish bells will warn the islanders. Luis Silvera, mayor of Vilas town in São Jorge, said evacuation plans would then be posted on social media and on local radio stations.

Officials say air and sea resources have been mobilized to assist with any evacuation while a military support camp is being built within Calheta Municipality. “The space where the military forces will be stationed is already being prepared,” Mayor Silvera said, adding that the space “will be equipped with the necessary conditions, such as water and power, in coordination with the municipal services of Calheta Municipality.”

While the government will assist in the almost impending disaster, residents also need to prepare and take personal action in the event of a volcanic eruption. “Their backpacks should be minimally outfitted, that is, with a change of clothes, their medicine and some basic food,” Silvera said.

Clelio Meneses, supervisor of civil protection services, said many national and international agencies were preparing for the potential disaster. Besides regional and national civil protection, the National Institute for Medical Emergencies and the International Red Cross are standing by to provide assistance.

Scientists draw parallels between this swarm of earthquakes with a sudden swarm of earthquakes that occurred last year on the Spanish island of La Palma within the Canary Islands, which lies about 870 miles southeast of the Azores; This swarm was followed by a devastating volcanic eruption that lasted most of last year, covering a large area with lava and/or volcanic ash and ash. While there are fears that a destructive volcano could erupt soon, there are also fears of an Atlantic-wide tsunami; However, the USGS and other outlets are quick to point out that such a scenario is unlikely to occur.

Fajã dos Cubres seen from a nearby scenic vantage point, São Jorge, Azores, Portugal. Photo: Jules Verne Times Two / julesvernex2.com / CC-BY-SA-4.0

São Jorge Island within the Azores is only 33 miles long and less than 4 miles wide and is home to about 8,100 residents. The island was formed by eruptions of volcanic fissures that began in the eastern part of the island. The western two-thirds of the island is newer, consisting of fissure-fed lava flows. Lava erupted from three sites over the south-central coast during the 1580’s, creating flows that reached the ocean. An eruption in 1580 claimed 10 lives. Five other important eruptions occurred after the 1580 eruption of the volcano that led to a historic eruption on the morning of May 1, 1808. On that day, suffocating gases, in addition to carboxylic acid, were emitted from a vent along the Manadas mountain range and thick greenish steam was reported as spreading It quickly pulled out chloric and sulfuric acids among the island’s vegetation, killing it. During this volcanic eruption, several strong earthquakes were recorded every hour, which spread panic among those on the island. Due to earthquakes and the resulting volcanic activity, many homes, buildings, and arable land were destroyed. The death toll from the 1808 eruption was low, with only 8 deaths recorded.

In the early 1900s, undersea volcanic vents erupted off the island’s shore, but no lava has flowed through São Jorge Island since the volcanic accident of 1808.

Scientists at CIVISA, the civil defense agency responsible for monitoring seismic activity there, say they plan to deploy additional equipment to measure signs of volcanic activity. This swarm was likely created by the movement of magma just below the surface which could be a sign of a volcanic eruption in the coming days or weeks.

While the center of more than 2,000 earthquakes was on the island of São Jorge, the entire Azores chain of islands has been shaken by continuous earthquakes since the weekend. Photo: CIVISA

In September 2021, a swarm of earthquakes began on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands. A few days later, an eruption erupted. This large-scale eruption raised fears that volcanic activity could lead to disaster on the eastern coast of the United States. Some have hypothesized that a major landslide that could occur from a volcanic eruption could trigger a massive tsunami across the Atlantic. A “massive tsunami” is a very large wave caused by a large and sudden displacement of material in a body of water. Whereas typical tsunamis arise from underwater earthquake activity in which the sea floor rises or falls and displaces that water, a massive tsunami occurs when a huge amount of material suddenly falls into the water; This can be caused by a large meteor impact or by a large landslide, especially volcanic islands. While a regular tsunami may be as high as 100 feet from a strong earthquake, a massive tsunami can rise from hundreds to thousands of feet. Since a huge tsunami is so huge, it will be able to travel tens of miles inland or at a faster speed. The BBC’s 2000 documentary series The End of the Day took on the idea of ​​a giant Canary Island tsunami, showing water rushing far into the US East Coast, destroying nearly everything along the way, even in the far inland. NatGeo TV has produced its own show, The Next Mega Tsunami: Killer Waves, which discusses the threat of large seismic events leading to massive waves across the oceans. In 2001, Stephen N. Ward and Simon Day in a research article that the change in volcanic activity that is erupting today and a fracture in a volcano that formed during the 1949 eruption may be a precursor to a giant collapse. They estimated that such a collapse could cause a tsunami across the entire North Atlantic and severely affect the United States and Canada.

Now in La Palma pic.twitter.com/ecCZaDLuaY

– Marie Arellano Moreno (@mary_aam) September 19, 2021

However, subsequent research has debated whether the magnitude of the tsunami will remain large far from La Palma, where the tsunami wave may rapidly decay away from the source and interactions with the continental shelf could reduce its magnitude further. Some evidence indicates that most collapses in the Canary Islands occurred as multi-stage events that are not effective in causing tsunamis, and a multi-stage avalanche in La Palma would also produce smaller tsunamis. The US Geological Survey published articles in October confirming how likely a huge tsunami of volcanic activity is for the Canary Islands, and the same is likely to be true for the Azores eruption as well.

For now, scientists will continue to monitor seismic activity in the Azores for any signs of an impending volcanic eruption. A period of 214 years of silent volcanic activity on the island may be coming to an end.

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