Azores Situation Report Wednesday 2nd October 2024
A 63-year-old man with medical emergency removed from merchant ship off the Azores
The Navy coordinated the rescue, by helicopter, of a 63-year-old man with suspected heart disease who was on board a merchant ship off the island of Terceira, in the Azores.
The crew member, a Polish man, had a clinical picture of heart disease, requiring urgent and immediate hospital medical care, the Navy detailed in a statement.
The man was on board the merchant ship “MIEDWIE”, flying the Maltese flag, sailing approximately 48 nautical miles, equivalent to 90 kilometres, southwest of Terceira Island.
The rescue [which took place on Sunday] was carried out by the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) EH-101 helicopter, which transported the patient to Lajes airport, on Terceira Island. The patient was later transferred to the hospital unit.
The operation was coordinated by the Portuguese Navy, through the Ponta Delgada Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Delgada), in conjunction with the Urgent Patient Guidance Centre – Maritime (CODU-MAR) and the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre<r (RCC) Lajes.
Seismic activity in Terceira “within crisis standards”
The new increase in seismic activity on Terceira is part of the pattern of the ongoing seismo-volcaeic crisis on the island since June 2022, revealed the Azores Seismo-volcaeic Information and Surveillance Centre (CIVISA).
“Since early this morning, we have seen an increase in the seismicity of the crisis at the Santa Bárbara volcano. The crisis has been ongoing since the 22nd of June 2022 and has been marked by days of greater energy release and often associated with a higher daily frequency of recorded events”, explained researcher Rita Carmo, from CIVISA.
Two new earthquakes were felt on Monday morning in Terceira, totalling six events on that Azores island since midnight.
“The strongest earthquake occurred at 3:27 am and had a magnitude of 3.7 on the Richter scale, and was widely felt across the island,” explained the researcher.
The other five earthquakes felt since midnight had magnitudes below 3.0.
Rita Carmo stressed that “the deformation pattern” at the Santa Bárbara volcano is maintained, a situation that has been recorded “for some time”.
Regarding the phytochemical parameters of water and gases, she specified that there is no significant variation in the data recorded in the permanent networks and throughout the regular CIVISA campaigns.
“The situation is assessed daily by our crisis office, and we maintain the alert level at V3. And, if there is any justification for it to be changed, we will immediately inform Civil Protection”, said Rita Carmo.
On June the 27th, CIVISA raised the alert level for the Santa Bárbara volcano to V3 and for the fissure volcanic system on Terceira Island to V1.
In volcanic alert levels, V0 means “state of rest” and V6 “ongoing eruption”, according to the information available on the CIVISA website. Level V3 confirms the reactivation of the volcanic system, with signs of high activity.
The researcher stated that the crisis office recently raised the scientific alert for the Serreta Submarine Crista to V1 (metastable equilibrium phase), because the data obtained by the CIVISA monitoring network indicated values ”slightly above reference levels”.
“The crisis is cantered at the Santa Bárbara volcano, but there are also adjacent volcanic systems, in this case the Serreta Submarine Ridge and the Terceira Fissural Volcanic System. And, because earthquakes occur in these volcanic systems, the level was changed to V1 because these are systems that are readjusting to the tensions”, he added.
According to CIVISA, the phenomenon that is affecting Terceira Island “cannot be dissociated from the increase in seismic activity that has been observed in the Azores and, in particular, in the Central group, since the beginning of 2022”.
“The observed pattern of activity indicates the possibility of continued occurrence of events felt by the population, which may eventually reach magnitudes and intensities greater than those recorded to date”, is stated on the CIVISA page.