Azores Situation Report Wednesday 11th June 2025

Four earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.6 and 3.3 felt on the island of São Miguel

Four earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.6 and 3.3 on the Richter scale were felt around 6:00 pm local time on the 9th of JUne in São Miguel, in the Eastern group of the Azores, reported the Azores Seismo-volcaeic Information and Surveillance Centre (CIVISA).

According to CIVISA, the tremors were recorded at 05:54 local time (06:54 in Lisbon), 10:55, 12:02 and 12:04.

The first earthquake had a magnitude of 3.3 and the following, in order, 2.7, 3.1 and 2.6.

The earthquakes had their epicentres south-southwest of Faial da Terra and south-southeast of Ribeira Quente, in the municipality of Povoação.

According to CIVISA, the four tremors were felt with maximum intensity III and III/IV (Modified Mercalli scale) in the municipality of Povoação and the most intense (3.3 on the Richter scale) was also felt in the municipalities of Vila Franca do Campo and Ponta Delgada (with intensity II/III).

The earthquakes are part of the seismic activity recorded since Wednesday south of the island of São Miguel, which “has been marked by low magnitude events, located at sea, roughly between 10 and 20 kilometres south of the municipality of Povoação”.

Azores Seismo-volcaeic Monitoring and Information Centre has a new portal

The Azores Seismo-volcaeic Information and Surveillance Centre (CIVISA) has a new internet portal in operation, in an experimental phase, to disseminate information related to seismo-volcaeic activity in the region, it was announced.

The portal, created in partnership with the Institute of Volcanology of the University of the Azores (IVAR), is available at www.civisa.pt and “will function as a redundant and temporary system until the definitive solution coordinated with the Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service of the Azores for IVAR/CIVISA is concluded”.

CIVISA said in a statement that the new online portal “is accessible from all over the country and abroad, overcoming the security restrictions that prevented access to the old portal from outside the country”.

In March of this year, the Regional Government of the Azores expressed its willingness to increase CIVISA’s funding, to ensure an “excellent” service, after problems were reported in accessing the website, which has been in operation for 15 years.

TAP inaugurates new air route between Terceira Island and São Francisco

The new air link between Terceira Island and San Francisco (USA), operated by the airline TAP, as of today, brings the Azores and the diaspora closer together and boosts tourism, considered the vice-president of the Azorean Government.

TAP inaugurated this Tuesday the connection between Terceira Island and San Francisco, in the United States of America, which will continue until September 17th with a weekly frequency, departing on Tuesdays and returning on Wednesdays, provided by A330neo aircraft, with capacity for around 298 passengers.

 

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.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 21st May 2025

Political disbelief and low levels of education explain abstention in the Azores

Professor of Political Science at the University of the Azores, Luís Andrade, pointed to disbelief in the political class, lack of education and levels of exclusion to explain the fact that the Azores were the region with the highest abstention rate in the legislative elections.

“A substantial part of the population has stopped believing in politics as it is today. The party apparatus, of several parties, does not satisfy the aspirations of a part of the population”, argued the professor of Political Science at the University of the Azores.

The Azores were the electoral district with the highest abstention rate in Sunday’s legislative elections, with 56.19%, while Braga was the district with the lowest abstention, 30.29%.

Of the 10 municipalities with the highest abstention rate, eight are in the Azores electoral district, with Ribeira Grande leading, with 62.34% and, in second place, Vila Franca do Campo, with 61.38%.

In fourth place comes Vila do Porto (59.78%), followed by Povoação (59.62%), Calheta (59.20%), Velas (57.31%), Vila Praia da Vitória (57.04%) and Lagoa (56.79%).

For Luís Andrade, there is a “disbelief that the party system cannot meet the aspirations” of the population, especially among the youngest.

The retired professor also highlighted the social context of the Azores, marked by “alarming levels of poverty” and low schooling rates.

“It’s a combination of factors such as poverty, social exclusion, and people’s lack of education. The lack of political culture also helps to explain abstention. People don’t identify with the parties, especially those with less education,” he added.

According to data released in January by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, the Azores have the highest poverty (24.2%) and social exclusion (28.4%) rates in the country.

The archipelago also has an early education and training dropout rate of 19.8%, well above the national average (6.6%), according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

University professor Luís Andrade considered that political parties should be “concerned with studying the problem” of abstention in depth but warned that the political participation of citizens should be a mission for “the whole of society”.

“It is not easy, it is not just the mission of political parties, it is the mission of the whole society. Starting from schools, whether primary, secondary or even university, to start making people of young ages actively participate from an early age to encourage them to vote in any type of election”, highlighted the political scientist.

HDES begins monitoring patients at home this summer

The Home Hospitalization Unit will start this summer with five beds outside the hospital, whose patients will be cared for at home and accompanied by a medical and nursing team.

The Home Hospitalization Unit (UHD) at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES) will start this summer, until September, with five beds outside the hospital context, which will receive daily visits from a medical and nursing team, from Monday to Friday, during the morning period.

The presentation of the new UHD was held yesterday in the Auditorium of the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, followed by a visit to the unit’s facilities, in the presence of the president of the board of directors and clinical director, Paula Macedo, as well as the medical and nursing coordinators of the UHD, respectively Marisa Rocha and Andreia Sousa.

The coordinating doctor of the HDES Home Hospitalization Unit, Marisa Rocha, explained that “home hospitalization has advantages at all levels, first and foremost for the patient, who is no longer hospitalized and can receive the same level of care at home, with the same scientific rigor and with humanization and proximity to health professionals”. This is because, in a hospital setting and with several patients hospitalized, it is not always easy for the patient to speak to the doctor or nurse when they want to.

But home hospitalization also has benefits at a social level, “because we can, by being in the patient’s home, increase health literacy, with benefits for patients and their families”, explained Marisa Rocha, also avoiding many rehospitalization situations.

Furthermore, in a family environment, risks for the patient are reduced when they are in a hospital context, such as falls, confusion syndromes or hospital infections, stated the coordinating doctor of the UHD at Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 7th May 2025

Administration wants to resize Ponta Delgada’s HDES and create a hospital of the future

The administration of the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital (HDES) in Ponta Delgada reiterated the objective of resizing the unit to create a “hospital of the future”, maintaining the intention of launching the project by the end of June

In a session commemorating the fire that devastated HDES on May 4th, 2024, the president of the hospital’s board of directors said she wanted to “leave not only a message of confidence, but of hope” for the future of the largest hospital in the Azores.

“The hospital is not just about repairing or reorganizing, it is also about resizing it to be a hospital of the future. We want it to be able to provide the best treatments and most differentiated healthcare for over 25 years,” said Paula Macedo in a statement.

The president of the administration defended the importance of giving “new breath to the future” of HDES and assured that the “final functional program evaluation phase” is currently underway.

When asked about possible delays in the deadline, Paula Macedo reiterated that the intention is to launch the project by the end of the first half of the year, but referred further clarification to the regional secretary for Health.

“The objective here is to bring something robust and well-founded by listening to the entire clinical and non-clinical area and being able to use this material to design the future hospital”, he reinforced.

The person responsible for HDES, however, declined to justify the decision to build a modular hospital and not reopen the emergency service, recalling that she will be heard on May 14th in the parliamentary inquiry committee dedicated to the response to the fire at HDES.

“I don’t think it’s the day. Today is a day to express our gratitude and acknowledgement to all those who helped us. That’s what I wanted to leave as a message of confidence and hope: our users can always count on us,” he stressed.

Regarding delays in surgeries and diagnostic tests, Paula Macedo recalled the impacts caused by the suspension of clinical activity and promised a “short response” for affected users.

The president of the administration also said that HDES will “reinforce the capacity” of the operating block, returning to having six rooms, the same number it had before the fire.

During the session, Paula Macedo praised the professionals and institutions that helped respond to the fire on May 4, 2024, which forced the transfer of 333 patients.

The initiative also included a speech on disaster response by the former Secretary of Health of Madeira, Pedro Ramos, as a specialist in Disaster Management.

Azores record the biggest drop in birth rates and rise in mortality rates

The Azores were the region that showed the largest year-on-year decrease in birth rates, but also the sharpest increase in mortality in the country in 2024 compared to the previous year, which culminated in a negative natural balance, according to data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE)

Regarding mortality, in Portugal there were a total of 118,374 deaths of residents in national territory in 2024, 79 more than in 2023 (118,295 deaths), which represented a year-on-year increase of 0.1%.

In the Azores there were 2,454 deaths in the year under review, a year-on-year increase, considering that 85 more deaths of Azorean residents were recorded compared to the previous year.

Based on the information presented by the national statistics office, mortality increased in four of the nine NUTS II regions, with increases higher than those recorded at national level (+0.1%), with the Autonomous Region of the Azores standing out with the largest increase (+3.6%). In contrast, Madeira recorded the largest decrease in mortality (-7.6%).

At a regional level, the highest proportion of deaths occurred in the age group of 80 and over, representing more than half of mortality in all regions, ranging from 52.2% to 65.4%, with the exception of the Azores, a region where the proportion of deaths in this age group was 46.2%.

As indicated by the national statistics office in the publication ‘Vital Statistics 2024’, it appears that in the year under analysis, 84,642 babies were born to mothers residing in Portugal, 1.2% less than in 2023 (85,699 live births).

Of the total number of live births observed in the country, 43,470 were male and 41,172 were female, “representing a male-to-female ratio of 106 (for every 100 female children, approximately 106 were male)”, the document states.

In the Azores, 1,871 babies were born to mothers residing in the Azores archipelago in 2024, a reduction of 171 live births compared to the previous year. This observed decrease is equivalent to the largest year-on-year drop recorded in Portugal this year (-8.9%).

According to the INE, the birth rate decreased in more than half of the country’s NUTS II regions, except in the West and Tagus Valley (+1%), Greater Lisbon (+0.9%), the Setúbal Peninsula (+0.3%) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (+2.6%).

With the exception of the Central region (-0.9%), in the remaining regions the decrease was greater than the national figure (-1.2%), with the Azores showing the biggest drop in birth rates.

This year, around a third (33%) of live births in Portugal were children of foreign mothers.

“In the last decade, the proportion of live births to mothers of foreign nationality has more than doubled”, adds the INE, highlighting that the proportion of live births to mothers of foreign nationality was higher than the national value in three regions: Greater Lisbon (47.8%), Setúbal Peninsula (46.9%) and Algarve (46.6%).

In the Azores, the proportion of live births to mothers of foreign nationality was the lowest in the country, at 7.1%.

In the country there was a slight increase in the number of deaths and a decrease in the number of live births, a situation that led to a worsening of the natural balance, also felt in four of nine regions.

The North was the region where the most pronounced negative natural balance was recorded (-12,471), the Autonomous Region of the Azores where the least negative value was recorded (-583) and Greater Lisbon, for the second consecutive year, was the only NUTS II region to record a positive natural balance (+929), highlights the INE.

Prison services open investigation into case of hospitalized inmate in the Azores

Prison services have opened an investigation into a case in which an inmate in the Azores was allegedly placed in isolation in a cell without a mattress and required emergency medical care, the Minister of Justice revealed.

“There is an investigation process underway and in view of this, the necessary measures will be taken”, said Rita Alarcão Júdice at the end of the inauguration ceremony of the new facilities of the Southern Directorate of the PJ, in Faro.

An inmate at the Angra do Heroísmo Prison, on Terceira Island, has been hospitalized in serious condition since April 26th, after being found lying in the cell where he was confined with signs of hypothermia.

The National Union of Prison Guards warned last week about the “lack of security conditions” in the prisons of Ponta Delgada and Angra do Heroísmo.

The union president, Frederico Morais, said on April 24th that the inmate in question “returned from hospital and was placed in isolation in a cell without a mattress” and “required emergency medical care due to respiratory problems”.

“We do not have the conditions to have a psychiatric patient in a prison. We are not doctors. In these types of situations, inmates should be placed in specialized clinics,” said Frederico Morais, defending a “rigorous” inspection of the Angra do Heroísmo prison