Exposure to lava flows in Sao Jorge

Exposure to lava flows in Sao Jorge; provided by the Copernicus Emergency Management Service in June 2022.

Earlier this year, the Portuguese island São Jorge received threatening levels of seismic activity – 1800 small tremors were registered in just four days. These could have indicated an imminent volcanic eruption, so local authorities used satellite data to map the potential lava flow and protect people and infrastructure accordingly. Fortunately, no volcanic eruption occurred, but the local population was ready for the worst-case scenario thanks to the help of space technology.