Experts warned today that the volcanic island of São José, in the Azores archipelago, which has been hit by a series of earthquakes recently, could record an eruption like the one in Spain's La Palma, which destroyed thousands of properties and crops in 85 days.
That island, in the middle of the Atlantic, has seen more than 20,000 micro-earthquakes, up to 3.3 magnitude, in the past 11 days.
The tremors may herald a volcanic eruption for the first time since 1808 or a major earthquake, says the CIVISA seismo-volcanic monitoring centre.
Older residents and those with mobility problems have moved away from Vela, the community where most earthquakes have been recorded, and many locals have fled the island because of fear.
"The magnitude of the earthquakes has decreased slightly ... but the population must remain vigilant, they should not relax," said Eduardo Farias, head of the Azores Civil Protection Service.
At a school in Vela, classes have been suspended and some of its classrooms will be turned into a health centre.
Francisco Fonseca, president of the São José health authority, said health officials with experience in natural disasters were being sent to the island.
"The whole situation is a challenge," he noted. "It is sad and unprecedented."
The sudden increase in seismic activity in São José is reminiscent of the earthquakes recorded before the eruption of the Cubre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma last year, about 1,400 kilometers southeast of the Azores.
Experts at the Involcan Institute of Volcanology of the Canary Islands, who monitored the eruption of La Palma, said today that about 20 million cubic metres of lava could pour into São José in the event of an eruption.
Luca D'Auria, director of Involcan's volcanic monitoring department, told Reuters that a ground deformation, caused by volcanic activity, has been detected in São José.
"Either it will have no effect (...) or it could result in a volcanic eruption," he explained.
CIVISA officials are asking the approximately 8,400 inhabitants of São José not to panic.
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