Investigating earthquakes in the Azores

Research and impact 12 February 2020

Dr Neil Mitchell told us about his role as Principal Investigator of a NERC project (Natural Environment Research Council), helping to mobilise a set of seismometers to put out on the seabed around the site of a swarm of earthquakes in the Azores, just west of Faial Island. The earthquakes may signify a volcanic eruption on the seabed…

RV Arquipelago

The project has been launched in collaboration with the oceanographic department of the University of the Azores, Okeanos, and the civil defence agency CIVISA, as well as Durham University and the GEOMAR in Germany.

Dr Mitchell has recently been awarded a NERC urgency grant to investigate the earthquakes:

“I was actually told about the earthquakes by a member of the public, who has friends living on Faial. They have been feeling some of the earthquakes, so it has been concerning to the population. In the past the island has experienced severe earthquakes, so they have an understandable worry. However, the earthquakes are occurring at significant depth and far away from the island.”

The earthquakes can be seen clustering west of the island in this map produced by the local civil defence organisation. The UK’s Ocean-Bottom Instrumentation Consortium are blogging about the project, documenting the urgent call to get earthquake monitoring instruments deployed. The equipment has been provided by the NERC equipment pool. Dr Mitchell has organised the research vessel in Horta, Faial, which he has worked on before.

I asked what the earthquakes might mean for us…

“… maybe they represent a dyke intrusion associated with a volcanic eruption on the seabed, or maybe they could represent a set of fault movements, we aren’t sure.”

With the bad weather, delays to the project may be possible:

“We should ideally get the equipment from the shippers Wednesday but probably Thursday. Then we should know if we are going to sea with it – the weather is unfortunately worsening. Fingers crossed.”

Follow the development of the project, and hopefully the quick deployment of the seismic instruments, at the OBIC blog here: https://obsatsea.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/u-r-g-e-n-t/ 

The volcano on the nearby island of Pico – symbolic of the Azores

Azoresdyke intrusionEarthquakesNERCseismic activityseismic instrumentvolcanic eruption