Capelinhos Volcano
Words: Cláudia Pinto
Photos: Frederico Martins
A wind cuts through the silence. Everything is black, desolate and hard. Only the sea remains a living witness to what happened. On land, the records remain. More than 60 years have passed, and while much is known — scientifically — about the event that created the Capelinhos volcano, mystery seems to be the landmark’s defining characteristic.
The story sounds like something out of a science fiction film, but it’s real and as surprising as it is true, which is perhaps why it’s called the Mystery of Capelinhos.
In September 1958, small earthquakes shook the Azorean island of Faial. After 12 days of minor tremors, a volcano erupted in the sea, 300 metres off the coast. Its activity continued for more than a year, with varying degrees of intensity.
The eruption exploded from the sea, releasing huge quantities of steam and gases, along with explosions that released jets of ash and clouds of steam. As the debris accumulated, a small islet, which was named Nova Island, grew to a height of around 100 metres. During quieter periods of volcanic activity, this new creation was swallowed up by the sea and a number of other islets formed and disappeared.
Later, a fissure opened in the sea, from which jets of glowing lava could be seen shooting several metres into the air. The frequent eruptions of volca-nic ash created new areas of land that eventually joined the coast of Faial, forming an isthmus.
With the end of the eruption of the Capelinhos volcano, the construction of the new landscape came to a halt. Given the geological richness of the area, the Volcano Geological Museum opened in 1964 to document all volcanic activity, with the collection transferred to the Capelinhos Volcano Interpretation Centre which opened in 2008.
The entire area around the volcano is classified as a protected landscape of high geological and biological interest, is part of the Natura 2000 network, and, with Costado da Nau, is a geosite in the Azores Geopark and has recently been declared a natural monument. The Capelinhos lighthouse was renovated and is now part of the Capelinhos Volcano Interpretation Centre, which opened in May 2008.
What we see at Capelinhos today was created by nature over the years. A black expanse as far as the eye can see, contrasting with the green of the Azores and the ever-present blue of the sea.
But nature is also responsible for its destruction, acting through external agents such as the sea, the wind and rain, which have been the main forces eroding this volcanic landscape.
