Azores Volcanic Island Hit by Thousands of Quakes Starts Evacuation as Fears Grow

Satellite map shows seismic activity at Sao Jorge island after around 1,100 small earthquakes have rattled one of Portugal's mid-Atlantic volcanic islands in less than 48 hours in Azores islands, Portugal, on March 21, 2022. Azore's Seismovolcanic Surveillance and Information Center/Handout via Reuters

LISBON—Authorities on a mid-Atlantic Portuguese island hit by thousands of small earthquakes in recent days started evacuating people living at the bottom of coastal cliffs on Thursday as fears of a stronger tremor or a volcanic eruption grow.

Since Saturday, over 2,000 earthquakes, with a magnitude of between 1.6 and 3.3, have been recorded on the volcanic island of Sao Jorge in the Azores archipelago, according to the region’s CIVISA seismo-volcanic surveillance centre.