Earthquakes, landslides and storms on São Jorge: what visitors should know

São Jorge is a long, narrow volcanic ridge with cliffs on both coasts, and the fajãs that draw most visitors sit at the bottom of those cliffs. The ground that made them is still active, but what a visitor usually meets is mundane: a road down to a fajã closed after a night of rain, a trail shut for repairs, a ferry that stays in port. This guide covers what has happened on the island, which warnings to read, and how to plan a trip so that a closure costs you an afternoon rather than a flight.

On most days nothing happens. Earthquakes are frequent in the Azores and almost all of them are too small to feel. The hazard you are most likely to meet on São Jorge is a rockfall or landslide on one of the steep roads and paths to the fajãs, usually after heavy rain. Check the trail alerts and the weather warnings the evening before, keep a spare day at the end of the trip, and ask your host before you drive down to a fajã.

São Jorge sits in the middle of the Azores' central group, where the ground is active. Three events stand out.

The worst was the earthquake of 9 July 1757, remembered locally as the "Mandado de Deus". It struck shortly before midnight on a Saturday and lasted about two minutes. About 1,000 people died, and in Calheta and Topo, the hardest-hit areas, between a fifth and nearly a third of the population was killed. The epicentre was at Fajã dos Vimes, and the shaking brought down so much of the cliffs that several fajãs on the island owe their present shape to it.

On 1 January 1980 an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 killed more than 70 people across the central group and caused considerable damage on Terceira, São Jorge and Graciosa.

The most recent episode was a seismic crisis that began on 19 March 2022 under the Manadas volcanic fissure system in the western half of the island, which last erupted in 1808. CIVISA, the Azores seismic and volcanic monitoring centre, uses a seven-step alert scale from V0 (rest) to V6 (eruption under way). During the crisis São Jorge was at V4, "threat of eruption". By 9 June 2022 CIVISA had recorded 37,411 earthquakes, of which 287 were felt, at depths of 7.5 to 12 kilometres. That day it lowered the level to V3, an active system with no imminent eruption, while stressing that the fissure system remained active. There was no eruption.

What this means for a trip: the island is monitored continuously, and CIVISA publishes its alert levels and notices of every felt earthquake on civisa.pt. If you feel a tremor, the standard advice for any earthquake zone applies: indoors, take cover under a sturdy table away from windows; outdoors, move away from buildings and cliffs. On São Jorge the second half of that matters, because the cliffs above the fajãs are where shaking turns into rockfalls.

This is the hazard that actually changes visitors' plans. The roads down to the fajãs are cut into cliffs of loose volcanic material, and heavy rain brings rock and earth down onto them several times a year.

Recent examples:

• On 22 November 2021, at 07:30, a rockfall cut the road to Fajã de São João, leaving 32 people inside. Clearing had to wait for better weather, and civil protection asked for an Air Force helicopter to fly in a nurse and an ambulance crew member in case anyone needed care.
• The access road to Fajã dos Cubres, the usual car park for the walk to Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo, was blocked by landslides on 10 October 2025, again in January 2026, and on 25 September 2026, when municipal civil protection reached the site but could not yet start clearing it safely.

None of these hurt a visitor, but each one closed a fajã for a day or more. Some practical rules follow from them:

• After a night of heavy rain, ask your host or the Calheta or Velas town hall whether the road to the fajã you want is open before you drive down.
• Do not stop under a cliff to take photographs, and do not walk past a barrier or a closed sign. A road that looks clear can still be closed because the slope above it has not been checked.
• If you are walking to Santo Cristo, have a fallback. When the Cubres road is shut you can still walk down from the Serra do Topo trailhead and back the same way, which is longer but avoids the closed road.
• Do not plan your only fajã day for the last day of your stay.

Our guide to the fajãs you can drive to and the walk to Santo Cristo describes each road.

The official Azores trails site keeps an Alerts page listing every trail that is temporarily closed, island by island. On 8 October 2026 it listed two on São Jorge: PRC05SJO Fajã d'Além and PR09SJO Fajã dos Vimes - Fragueira - Portal. Closures are usually for landslide damage or path repairs, and the page does not say when they will reopen, so look again the evening before you walk.

The same site's safety page gives the basics: check the forecast before you set off, tell someone your route and when you expect to be back, stay on the marked path and take enough water, because water from streams and lagoons is not safe to drink. If you walk a closed trail and get hurt, rescuers have to reach you on a path that was shut because it is unsafe.

From autumn to spring the Azores sit in the path of Atlantic depressions, and the remains of tropical storms sometimes reach the islands in September and October.

IPMA, the Portuguese weather service, issues warnings for each island group, and São Jorge is in the central group with Faial, Pico, Terceira and Graciosa. Yellow means a risk for some activities that depend on the weather, orange a moderate to high risk, and red an extreme one. Warnings cover rain, wind, thunderstorms and sea swell separately. In February 2026, for example, the central group was under orange and yellow warnings for swell, with waves forecast to reach 8 metres.

Swell usually disrupts plans before rain or wind does. The natural pools and harbour platforms shut when the waves come over them, and ferries between São Jorge, Pico and Faial are cancelled in rough weather. Our ferry guide explains what happens to a crossing on a bad day. If you have a flight to catch from another island, do not rely on the last boat of the day to get you there.

• Emergencies: 112, the European emergency number. It works on São Jorge as anywhere in the EU.
• Earthquakes and volcanic alert levels: CIVISA, at civisa.pt.
• Weather warnings: IPMA, at ipma.pt, under the Azores forecasts.
• Regional civil protection (SRPCBA), at prociv.azores.gov.pt: weather warnings, seismological notices and self-protection advice, in Portuguese.
• Trail closures: the Alerts page of trails.visitazores.com.
• To report damage to nature, such as a fire or pollution: SOS Ambiente, 800 292 800.

For health centres, pharmacies and what to do if you are hurt, see our practical essentials for São Jorge. The island has no hospital; serious cases are flown to Faial, Terceira or São Miguel, so travel insurance that covers medical evacuation is worth having.

Keep one spare day between São Jorge and your flight home, especially from October to April. Put the fajã walks early in your stay, so that a closed road can be moved to another day. Book accommodation you can reach without a fajã road if you travel in winter. Save the numbers and pages above on your phone before you set out.

Is it safe to visit São Jorge after the 2022 earthquakes?

Yes. The 2022 crisis ended without an eruption, CIVISA lowered the alert in June 2022 and keeps monitoring the island. Check civisa.pt before you travel if you want the current level.

What is the most likely problem I will run into?

A closed road or trail after heavy rain, usually on the way down to a fajã. Ask your host that morning and check the trail alerts.

Can I walk a trail that is listed as closed?

No. Closures usually follow landslide damage, and the page does not give reopening dates. Pick another trail and look again the next evening.

Will bad weather cancel my ferry?

It can. Ferries in the central group stop in heavy swell, so leave a spare day before an onward flight from another island.

• Sábado (Lusa): the 1757 earthquake on São Jorge
• Wikipedia: Fajã dos Vimes
• Wikipedia: 1980 Azores Islands earthquake
• DNoticias (Lusa): CIVISA lowers São Jorge alert level, June 2022
• Inquirer (AFP): earthquakes hit São Jorge, March 2022
• CIVISA: seismic and volcanic monitoring in the Azores
• Notícias ao Minuto: Fajã de São João isolated, November 2021
• RTP Açores: Fajã dos Cubres road closed by landslide, September 2026
• Azores Trails: alerts
• Azores Trails: ethics and safety
• DNoticias (Lusa): Azores swell warnings, February 2026
• IPMA: Azores forecasts and warnings
• Azores Civil Protection (SRPCBA)