The IPMA said that the earthquake “did not cause personal or material damage and was felt with maximum intensity III (modified Mercalli scale) in the parish of Arrifes (Ponta Delgada)”.
In a statement, the IPMA said that the earthquake was recorded at 3:39 am local time (4:39 am in Lisbon) and had its epicenter around 20 kilometers south of Faial da Terra, in the municipality of Povoação.
In the statement, IPMA said that the earthquake “did not cause personal or material damage and was felt with maximum intensity III (modified Mercalli scale) in the parish of Arrifes (Ponta Delgada)”.
The Modified Mercalli scale measures “degrees of intensity and respective description”.
With intensity III, considered weak, the shock is felt inside the house and hanging objects swing, feeling a “vibration similar to that caused by the passage of heavy vehicles”, describes the IPMA, on its website.
This was the second earthquake to hit the Faial da Terra area in the space of five days, after an earthquake measuring 2.7 on the Richter scale recorded on Wednesday.
According to the Richter scale, earthquakes are classified according to their magnitude as micro (less than 2.0), very small (2.0-2.9), small (3.0-3.9), slight (4 ,0-4.9), moderate (5.0-5.9), strong (6.0-6.9), large (7.0-7.9), important (8.0-8.9 ), exceptional (9.0-9.9) and extreme (when greater than 10).
Another island in the archipelago, Terceira, has been going through an “ongoing seismovolcanic crisis (…) since June 2022”, according to the Azores Seismovolcanic Information and Surveillance Center.
