Azores Situation Report Wednesday 4th June 2025
PSP carries out “Safe School” operation from today
The Public Security Police (PSP) is launching the “Safe School – End of the 2024/2025 School Year” operation, with the aim of reinforcing its mission of security, crime prevention and delinquency within the school community.
In a statement, the PSP said that as part of the operation, which runs until the 27th of June, will carry out awareness-raising actions and individual crime prevention contacts with young people in the 3rd cycle of primary education and secondary education regarding violent behavior, possession/use of weapons (especially bladed weapons) and drug use.
The PSP will also carry out actions with pre-school and primary school students, under the motto “FALCO – Safer Holidays”, presenting the Estou Aqui! Crianças Programe and the stories “A Pulseira das Conchas”, “A Ana no Labirinto das Compras” and “Um Presente Doce” from the project “Eu faço como diz o Falco”.
The agents will remind children of the care they should take on vacation when they get lost or are approached by strangers.
“Given the calendar of tests and exams for primary and secondary education, progressively, between 6 and 27 June, a greater influx of people to educational establishments is expected in certain periods, resulting from assessment meetings and activities to end the school year, as well as other events promoted by the educational community”, says the PSP.
Therefore, the PSP will carry out actions to prevent criminal offences, administrative offences and incivility, traffic and road safety inspections and commercial establishments, restaurants and bars, and others frequented by minors.
Mistreatment of babies in daycare centre reported
The Casa do Povo de Rabo de Peixe filed a criminal complaint against four employees, accusing them of mistreating babies under three years of age.
Four employees of the Child Support Centre No. 1, a branch of the Casa do Povo de Rabo de Peixe, were accused by the institution of mistreating babies.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that an investigation has been opened based on the complaint filed. “The investigation is subject to judicial secrecy,” a source from the Public Prosecutor’s Office revealed.
Former employees of the institution testified that the mistreatment had been going on for many years.
President of the Casa do Povo de Rabo de Peixe, Carlos Estrela, is not satisfied with the decision and promises to move forward with disciplinary procedures.
Magnitude 4.7 earthquake felt on Santa Maria island in the Azores
An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale was felt on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).
In a statement, the IPMA indicates that the earthquake was recorded at the stations of the Azores Archipelago Seismic Network at 00:18 local time (01:18 in Lisbon) and had an epicentre approximately 40 kilometres “east-southeast of the Formigas islets (S. Miguel)”.
“This earthquake, according to the information available to date, did not cause personal or material damage (…) and was felt with maximum intensity III (modified Mercalli scale) in the parish of São Pedro (Santa Maria)”, reads the IPMA website.
According to the Richter scale, earthquakes are classified according to their magnitude as micro (less than 2.0), very small (2.0-2.9), small (3.0-3.9), slight (4.0-4.9), moderate (5.0-5.9), strong (6.0-6.9), large (7.0-7.9), important (8.0-8.9), exceptional (9.0-9.9) and extreme (when greater than 10).
The Modified Mercalli scale measures the “degrees of intensity and their respective description”.
With an intensity II, considered very weak, the earthquake is “felt by people resting on the upper floors of buildings or in a favourable position”.
An intensity III tremor, considered weak, is felt indoors and hanging objects sway, feeling a “vibration similar to that caused by the passage of heavy vehicles”, describes the IPMA on its website.
With an intensity of IV, considered moderate, “suspended objects sway, the vibration is similar to that caused by the passage of heavy vehicles or the sensation of a heavy ball hitting the walls, parked cars sway, windows, doors and crockery shake, glass and crockery rattle or tinkle and at the highest level of this intensity, walls and wooden structures creak”.
With an intensity of V, considered strong, the shaking is “felt outside the home, the direction of movement can be assessed, people are woken up, liquids oscillate and some spill, small objects in unstable balance move or are knocked over”, describes the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) on its website.