“We have no record of any damage, neither material nor personal alarm situations among the populations that felt it,” assured José Manuel Bolieiro in response to this afternoon’s earthquake.
The Azorean leader (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) was speaking to journalists on the island of São Miguel, during the visit of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to the Azores.
“We are in a seismic region. We are accustomed as a people and territory to earthquakes, and we are very well equipped and skilled in technological matters,” emphasized the president of the regional government.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale was felt this afternoon on the islands of São Miguel, Santa Maria, and Terceira, according to the Azores Seismological and Volcanic Information and Surveillance Center (CIVISA).
According to CIVISA, the tremor occurred at 16:41 local time (17:41 in Lisbon) and had an epicenter about 119 kilometers ENE (East-Northeast) of Santa Maria.
“The earthquake was felt on the islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel (municipality of Povoação) with a maximum intensity of IV/V (Modified Mercalli Scale) in Povoação. The earthquake was also felt on the island of Terceira with a maximum intensity of II/III,” added CIVISA.
The Richter scale classifies earthquakes by their magnitude as micro (less than 2.0), very minor (2.0-2.9), minor (3.0-3.9), light (4.0-4.9), moderate (5.0-5.9), strong (6.0-6.9), major (7.0-7.9), great (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.”
