Azores – Evacuations Begin as Seismic Crisis Unfolds in Atlantic
I had the recollection that at least in terms of earthquake risk, the mid-Atlantic region is not nearly as bad for severe earthquakes as the Pacific, since the mid-Atlantic is an <i>expanding</i> &#x2F; divergent fault.  I.e. material gets pushed up gradually and the plates are politely moving away from one another.   This is supposed to be less catastrophic compared to subduction where big stresses build up and get released suddenly when things break.  Is that generally right?<p>But of course, that is just the earthquake part, doesn&#x27;t speak to the volcano or tsunami risk of big mountains erupting or falling into the ocean.  I guess this current story is about the possibility of lava&#x2F;ash, like what happened to the suburbs downslope of Kilauea or Soufriere Hills in the last couple years.<p>Edit, actually watching one of the videos linked by other commenters, it looks remarkably like Molokai and people living (gulp) at the bottom of steep drop-off&#x2F;valleys.