Eduardo Faria, who was speaking at the briefing on seismovolcanic activity in São Jorge, said that the Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service of the Azores (SRPCBA), in cooperation with the Azores Operational Command (COA), is at an “advanced stage” of the evacuation plan by sea, if necessary, and also by air, in the event of having damaged airport infrastructure”.

The Civil Protection official stressed that a helicopter carried out aerial reconnaissance to “check operating conditions in unprepared places”, and the evacuation plan “should be completed by the end of the week or the beginning of next week”.

Also in the briefing, Rui Marques, from the Azores Seismovolcanic Information and Surveillance Center (CIVISA), declared that “there was a slight change in the trend of the last seven days, in which there was an increase in the daily frequency of earthquakes”.