The American Help During the 1980 Earthquake in Terceira Island, Azores

Photo By 65th Public Affairs | Teams of the U.S Air Force, Army, Navy, civilians, and dependent personnel were organized and dispatch into the communities of Terceira Island to clear roads, dig through rubble and help families move their belongings to protected shelters.  

LAJES FIELD, REGIãO AUTóNOMA DOS AçORES, PORTUGAL

01.04.2023

Story by Cristina Oliveira 

65th Air Base Group

LAJES FIELD AIR BASE, Portugal - On the afternoon of January 1, 1980, the islands of Terceira, Sao Jorge, and Graciosa in the Azores archipelago were rocked by an earthquake measuring about 7.0 on the Richter scale. Eleven seconds of violent tremors were enough to bring down most older buildings, some built in the 17th century, including historic monuments such as palaces, churches, and monasteries.

At the time, most Azorean homes were made of stacked stones cut or collected from the earth with only mortar to hold them in place. Although the walls, when covered in plaster, could withstand the strong winds and storms common in the archipelago, they could not overcome the shaking from the quake.

Damage on Terceira was particularly heavy. The tumult injured hundreds physically and many more emotionally. Across the island, the Municipality of Angra do Heroismo lost 3,957 homes, while the Municipally of Praia da Vitoria lost another 765 homes. In one particular village, Doze Ribeiras, in a matter of moments 334 homes were destroyed. These numbers represented 99% of the village.

Across the island, 18,741 people found themselves homeless and without any prospect for the future. Among these numbers were six American families living off-base, who lost their homes too.

Lajes Field Air Base, at this time home of the 1605th Air Base Wing, survived almost physically untouched and fully operational. Due to their fortunate lack of damage, Americans immediately looked to assist their local companions.

The first volunteer efforts consisted of providing medical support, such as blood, medicine and electrical power for the Angra do Heroismo Hospital, which served as the main reception area for injured people. Three American medical teams also quickly went into action across the devastated island, providing medical care and comfort to those in need. Later, teams of the U.S Air Force, Army, Navy, civilians, and dependent personnel were organized and dispatched into the communities to clear roads, dig through rubble and help families move their belongings to
protected shelters. Heavy equipment such as front-end loaders and bulldozers were also granted to the region to supplement the Portuguese machines and to facilitate the emergency operation.

Tents, mattresses, and other essential supplies began to flow out of the Base as people began to seek for shelter and food. The Air Base sheltered 643 Portuguese displaced by the disaster and the people of Lajes Field assisted in constructing temporary shelters for another 1,500 people.

Two days after the quake, two American C-141 airplanes landed at the island carrying 700 tents, nearly a thousand blankets, food, and medicine. In total, the United States government supplied hundreds of tents, 1,480 mattresses and over 3,000 blankets at a cost of $325,000 dollars, more than one million dollars today.

The response of the individual Americans living at Lajes also had a huge impact. Personal donations accounted for 188 bags of clothing, 96 cases of food, 15 cases of shoes and over $10,500 or $38,000 today. Wives, off-duty military, and high school students also volunteered themselves and their time to prepare and serve meals at the dining hall and by the third day after the quake the Base dining facility was serving around 1,800 meals a day to Portuguese civilians.

Besides the physical destruction that the earthquake left behind, electric power, telephone communications and water supplies were disrupted for up to three days. To fill the gap, the Base functioned as a communication center and the 1605th Air Base Wing Crisis Action Team became the focus for disaster relief operations by all U.S. Forces and a coordination point with Portuguese military and civil authorities, a crucial element of help in managing the tragedy.

Adversity can establish everlasting bonds between people and cooperating during a tragic accident like the 1980 New Year's Day Earthquake on Terceira Island served to strength ties between Americans and Portuguese. Although the connection started much earlier than the first days of 1980, through this tragedy we saw the two nations’ fraternity come into focus. Forty-two years from that fateful day to the present and the relationship of partnership and friendship that was built between the two countries remains strong and solid.

• Date Taken: 01.04.2023
• Date Posted: 01.04.2023 10:07
• Story ID: 436240
• Location: LAJES FIELD, REGIãO AUTóNOMA DOS AçORES, PT