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LISBON, March 21 (Reuters) – Round 1,100 small earthquakes have rattled considered one of Portugal’s mid-Atlantic volcanic islands in lower than 48 hours, prompting authorities to activate an emergency plan as consultants assess what they’ve described as a “seismic disaster”.
Rui Marques, head of the Azores archipelago’s seismo-volcanic surveillance centre CIVISA, advised Reuters on Monday the earthquakes, with a magnitude starting from 1.9 to three.3, had been recorded on the island of Sao Jorge since Saturday afternoon.
He mentioned many of the earthquakes, which have induced no injury up to now, had been reported alongside the island’s volcanic fissure of Manadas, which final erupted in 1808.
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Sao Jorge, considered one of 9 islands which make up the Azores, is house to round 8,400 folks and is a part of the archipelago’s central group, which incorporates the favored vacationer locations of Faial and Pico, that are additionally volcanic.
Describing it as a safety measure, Luis Silveira, the mayor of the municipality of Velas, the place a lot of Sao Jorge’s inhabitants lives, signed a doc on Monday to activate an emergency plan as a result of earthquakes.
The sudden improve in seismic exercise is paying homage to the earthquake swarms detected previous to the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain’s La Palma island final yr, some 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) southeast of the Azores.
Over 85 days, that eruption destroyed 1000’s of properties and crops. learn extra
Nonetheless, CIVISA has but to ascertain what the collection of tremors may signify.
“It’s nonetheless not doable to know the behaviour sample of this seismic disaster,” Marques advised Lusa information company.
CIVISA has despatched groups to the bottom to arrange two extra seismic monitoring stations on the island and to measure soil gases, an indicator of volcanic exercise.
In a press release on Sunday, the regional Civil Safety authority mentioned it had already contacted native mayors and hearth items, and requested them to “stay vigilant” and assist the folks of Sao Jorge if wanted.
It urged folks to remain calm, keep knowledgeable and observe the suggestions of officers. Solely 63 of the 1,100 earthquakes registered up to now have been felt by the inhabitants, Marques advised Lusa.
“We should be a bit involved,” Marques advised Antena 1 radio station. “We should always not increase an alarm however we shall be attentive to the evolution of the scenario.”
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Reporting by Catarina Demony; Modifying by Nathan Allen, Alison Williams and Sandra Maler
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
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