![]() ![]() The two fault plane solutions suggest the earthquake was the outcome of strike-slip faulting on either a northwest–southeast striking left-lateral fault, or a northeast–southwest striking right-lateral fault. The earthquake off the coast of Faial Island occurred as a result of pure strike-slip faulting. The largest recorded earthquake in the vicinity of the Azores was the 1941 magnitude 8.3 event which was associated with strike-slip faulting on the Eurasian–Nubian plate boundary. ![]() Deadly earthquakes were also reported in 17. The first recorded damaging earthquake occurred in 1522-it destroyed Vila Franca do Campo and caused over 5,000 deaths. Since its founding, there has been at least 30 damaging and deadly earthquakes. The Portuguese founded the first settlements on the islands in the 15th century. The plate boundaries are seismically active and capable of producing large earthquakes. East of the Azores is the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault, specifically the strike-slip Gloria Fault which serves as the boundary between the Nubian and Eurasian plates. To the west is the Mid-Atlantic ridge a 16,000-km-long divergent boundary on the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean which separates the Eurasian Plate from the North American Plate. #Azor islands windows#If I can't see the sea every day, I feel like I'm in jail.” That night I sleep with the windows open, listening to the ocean and the wind, restless dreams of waterfalls and impenetrable forests chasing me through the night.The Azores Islands mark the location where the African ( Nubian), Eurasian and North American plates meet at the ride-ridge-fault Azores Triple Junction. Even if I'm not looking at it, I want to know it's over my shoulder somewhere. We have to see the sea we have to hear the waves. “Maresia,” says Francisco, using a Portuguese word that translates as “salt spray” but which is used to mean the scent of the sea. For Azoreans the ocean is much more than just a view. The cottages have tiled images of religious icons beside the front door: Our Lady of Hope, Our Lady of Miracles.įrancisco shows me his great-grandmother's house, white with a red door and small windows that look out at the sea. The wooden floor of the village church is made of boards salvaged centuries ago from ships wrecked on the cliffs below. Fajãzinha, his hometown, is a village of 61 people on a steep hillside facing the sea. As he drives he lifts an index finger in a lazy salute at every car we pass. Just 4,000 people live on Flores, and young Francisco Pimentel knows them all. Lagoa Negra and Lagoa Comprida, two lakes on Flores Ana Lui Luís wants to lead me to a hidden surf spot, accessible only by hiking time-worn paths down forest-covered cliffs. He built his first rappelling kit when he was 12 years old and went on to found an adventure sports company, to the general incomprehension of his friends and family, for whom living on an active volcano in the middle of the Atlantic was presumably adventure enough. Later, Luís discovered that he thrived on adrenaline. Afterward many families emigrated, but the Bettencourt family stayed. ![]() “I remember clinging to my mother's legs while the earth moved,” he says. Now in his 40s, he was a small child in 1980 when an earthquake shook the island's foundations. Luís Bettencourt meets me onshore, emanating a natty outdoor vibe in a fluorescent orange T-shirt with matching socks and beanie. The sky is silvery blue, and birds dart low across our wake, swooping for fish. The next morning, surprisingly headache-free, I board a ferry for the 45-minute sail to the neighboring island of São Jorge. The São Jorge hills vegetation in Flores Ana Lui ![]()
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