Responses to, and the short and long-term impacts of, the 1957/1958 Capelinhos volcanic eruption and associated earthquake activity on Faial, Azores

The 1957/58 Capelinhos eruption on Faial Island in the Azores is well known for being an excellent example of Surtseyan hydromagmatic volcanic activity. Less well known are the responses of the Portuguese authorities to the eruption and subsequent earthquake in May 1958, and the ways in which well-thought-out and generally effective recovery programmes were put in place. At the time Portugal was ruled by a dictatorship, the Estado Novo (New State). Only superficially similar to other fascist governments in Southern Europe, the Estado Novo collected huge amounts of data on the responses of the authorities to the disaster and their programmes of recovery, but never encouraged academic evaluation of policy, although it ensured that the scientific aspects of the eruption and earthquake were meticulously recorded and published.