Urzelina (volcano) - Eruption

Eruption

In the late morning of May 1, 1808, after a few days of intense seismic activity (that produced approximately eight tremors per hour), a fissural eruption occurred in the foothills of Manadas. Its eruption, which also affected other districts, was followed by gaseous emanations and lava flows that caused several deaths and destruction in the parish of Urzelina.

The events of the eruptions were reconstructed from various descriptions after the event, the most significant coming from Father João Ignácio da Silveira, parish priest of Santo Amaro. From these accounts, he wrote of a great cloud of fire that grew above the parish of Urzelina which was followed by abundant ash showers.

"On the early morning of Good Pastor Sunday, the first day of the month of May of the present year 1808, the earth shook so frequently, that we counted about eight tremors per hour, and of these there was one near sunrise so big, that it woke the population from their beds. On the same day, with part of the people in the Church supplicating themselves to Our Lord God, there was another earthquake that caused the assembled people to flee the Church, from 11 to 12 of the same day there were other earthquakes, and closely a sound so loud...and quickly we saw arise a great cloud of smoke over the tallest mountain of the parish of Urzelina, on the peak of António José de Sequeira, and in front of the Church of São Matheus, whose plan is central to the parish and was the most pleasing on the island, and for that reason it is visited by many good and bad people of all the islands, and in a short time it covered the highest sky made an arc over the parish of Manadas and of Urzelina..."

From the mouth of that volcano existed roars so great and trembling without interval that it invited the inhabitants of this island to Judgment. The people ran to suplicate themselves to God, quickly the people of the parish of Urzelina were afraid and abandoned their vicar the Reverend José António de Barcellos in the sacristy of his church, and in the same day it rained so much sand that the homes in the headlands were covered with sand and the fields there remained with of 7 palms, and the vineyards of the Castelletes until the chapel of Santa Rita, in the parish of Manadas, remained fixed and the homes almost collapsed with the weight, immediately escaping tongues of fire from the center that reached the heavens, throwing ignite rocks to 8 palms, to a distance of four leagues, others of 16 palms or less, rose to the same height and fell in dense showers."

Arriving the tragic evening, it dis-animated the inhabitants of this island to see the fire and ignite rocks, that escaped as meteors and almost looked like they fell over the people, and the windows of the church almost appeared to break with the echos of the sound that threatened our life."

Until Tuesday, third day of the same month, there exploeded fire from seven places, placing the mouht of the volcano close to Ribeira do Arieiro, by afternoon the fires had abated: in the morning of Wednesday, fourth day of the same month, there exploeded a fire between Ribeiras, above Fajã's spring, and with the same luck, it created a a cloud of sulforous powder and dirt that appeared to burn that location.

The vicar of Urzelina quickly made a procession to the area of the fajã with of Senhor Santo Christo and Nossa Senhora das Dôres, eventually meeting Father José de Sousa Machado, who brought a procession with Nossa Senhora da Encarnação and various people, who were almost suffocated by the sulfurous powder that was falling. Joining that animated procession, they arrived at the chapel of Nossa Senhora do Desterro, and still, with a lot of effort, because at the intersection to the top, there fell much sulphur and the air was sticky that many trees fell with their weight, while its character affected the travellers.

After another seven days, a fire exploeded in the vicinty of the parish of Santo Amaro, where it opened two mouths of fire, such as two great ravines of fluid material, and with such force that on the second day, we encountered more than a moio of fields of lava in the direction of the homes, forcing the people to flight, the vicar, Rev. Amaro Pereira de Lemos, lost his senses and sister D. Anna Maria de Lemos, went crazy.

The Vicar of Velas and Confessor, the Rev. António Machado Teixeira, upon the fire reaching the village was worried that they should leave, and ordered that the Sacremento should be sent to Beira, resulting in an abandonment that could not be explained. The nuns went to the Church in Rosais; the Confessor and other clegry to Faial, the Judge to Pico and and most of the people, almost the entire village, went to Beira and Rosais. This movement was beyond necessity, because on the day they did, those who saw the fire noted that they barely ran, and mostly within the ravines

The hinterland where the mentioned fire passed remained beaten and the grotoes formidable, the road broken in a manner that there did not pass cars nor people.

A similar account was described by João Soares de Albergaria de Sousa, in the quasi-political document Corografia Açórica:

"The volcano of 1808, that we witnessed erupt from Lagoinhas, along the massif that lies to the north of the village of Urzelina, also expelled from the locality of d’Entre Ribeiras, a league to the north-west of that area and then later in the area of Areias; the first tongue expelled for many days great quantities of material: for seven days the sun was obscured from the density in the atmosphere, impregnated with volcanic vapors; there were ash showers; the island suffered many and violent concussions; the soil in the neighborhood of the volcano opened deep cracks; these faults opened in areas 88-132 centimeters. This volcano ran to the sea, without interruption, leaving the ground covered in lava to a height of 990 centimeters, approximately."

The volcanic activity continued until May 4, from several points above Urzelina, migrating to as far as 1.5 kilometres towards the direction of Entre Ribeiras. The parish of Santo Amaro was also affected on May 11, when two craters in the area of Areias, began expelling lava which forced the evacuation of the population.