Quakes increase and it is not advisable to travel to the island of São Jorge

Lisbon, 23 Mar Civil Protection advises against traveling to the island of São Jorge, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, while seismic activity grows and the authorities are studying possible evacuation routes. The island, with about 9,000 inhabitants, has 1,900 low-intensity tremors in the last five days, although the Azores Volcanic Earthquake Monitoring Service and Information Centre (CIVISA) today reported that it “does not rule out possible events of greater magnitude”. Civil Protection “in a preventive way, advises against non-essential travel for the island, such as sports or cultural activities, so as not to create additional obstacles in the eventual relief of the population,” he warned in a statement. Although all earthquakes have tectonic origin and there is no sign of volcanic activity, the most critical area is in the municipality of Velas, where just over 5,000 people reside. The mayor of Velas, Luís Silveira, said today that one of the options if necessary would be to rehouse the neighbors in the northern part of the island. The prime minister, the socialist António Costa, announced on his Twitter account that the Portuguese government has made available to the Azores “all the necessary means”, such as the Armed Forces or the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), after discussing the situation with the president of the archipelago, José Manuel Bolieiro. According to CIVISA, all recorded earthquakes are at a depth of between 6 and 12 kilometers, although the authorities do not rule out that the situation could be altered and there is a volcanic risk. The island of São Jorge, 54 kilometers long and 6.9 kilometers wide, is part of the Central Group of the Portuguese archipelago of Azores located in Atlantic waters, more than 1,600 kilometers off the Portuguese coast. CHIEF cgg/sea/fpa