Volcanologist works to uncover why her island keeps shaking

STORY: Portugal's lush volcanic island of Sao Jorge has been rocked by more than 14,000 small earthquakes in seven days.

Volcanologist Fatima Viveiros is on a quest to find out why the island she grew up on keeps shaking.

Viveiros was a little girl when she decided to become a volcanologist.

“I have been thinking that it was when I was little that I decided to become a volcanologist. I knew that I lived in an active volcanic system. I lived there until I was 15, which is when I left home. My house was in the area of the Manadas volcanic fissure system, one of areas that is being most affected by the earthquakes. In theory, I knew this situation could happen but in reality, when it's our home, we have to be a little cold-blooded so our feelings don't affect our thinking. But the feelings are there because it's my home, my people, my land, and it's a daily struggle not to let it affect my reasoning.”

Now, at age 44, she is putting her skills to use to protect her home.

The recent tremors have reached a magnitude of up to 3.3 on the Richter scale.

Viveiros and other experts fear they could trigger a volcanic eruption for the first time since 1808.

“We are monitoring the amount of gases that are being released through the soil. Essentially, we are measuring carbon dioxide and also hydrogen sulphide, one of the components of sulphur. Why is this important? When we are trying to understand the volcanic system, all information must be gathered.”

Soil gases, such as CO2 and sulfur, are indicators of volcanic activity.

So far, the levels remain normal.

But the island's sudden increase in seismic activity is reminiscent of the earthquakes detected before the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain's La Palma island in 2021.

Over 85 days, that eruption destroyed thousands of properties and crops.

At the time, Viveiros travelled to La Palma to support the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute and monitor soil gases.

She says Sao Jorge's volcanic system was similar to the one on the Spanish island.

“We are talking about a fissure volcanic system similar to the one we saw recently in La Palma. Therefore, if looking at volcanism, one of the possible scenarios on the table is that we are see something similar to what happened in La Palma, with the specificities of the island of São Jorge.”

The region's CIVISA seismo-volcanic surveillance center has raised the volcanic alert to Level 4 - meaning there is a "real possibility" the volcano could erupt.

Authorities have said the eruption was not imminent, but around 1,500 people have left the island recent days.

Many have no idea when they will be able to return.