The 77-day eruption
On November 23, 2014, after nearly two decades of quiet, Pico do Fogo erupted. The event began with several days of increased seismic activity, culminating in an eruption from a fissure on the flank of the main cone. For 77 days, the volcano expelled lava, gas, and ash, ending on February 8, 2015. This was the volcano's longest eruption since 1857 and its largest in recorded history, registering a 3 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.
The eruption was characterized by both Hawaiian-style effusive flows and Strombolian explosions, with lava fountains and an ash plume that reached an altitude of 6,000 meters. Lava flows moved at rates of up to 15 meters per hour, eventually covering 520 hectares of land. The destruction was concentrated in Chã das Caldeiras, the 9-kilometer wide caldera inhabited by nearly 1,000 people. The villages of Portela and Bangaeira were almost entirely buried by lava, which destroyed homes, a school, a hotel, and the local wine cooperative headquarters. In total, 75% of the buildings in the main settlements were destroyed, and 994 people were displaced.
Life on the volcano
Pico do Fogo is an active stratovolcano and the highest point in Cape Verde, rising 2,829 meters above sea level. The island itself is a single, nearly round volcano about 25 kilometers in diameter. The community of Chã das Caldeiras exists within the volcano's summit caldera, a massive depression formed around 80,000 years ago when the eastern flank of the ancestral volcano collapsed into the sea.
The location is the source of the community's livelihood. The ground is made of volcanic soils, composed of lapilli and ash from centuries of eruptions. These conditions are ideal for agriculture, particularly viticulture. The area is the only significant grape-growing region in Cape Verde, producing a volcanic wine known as Vinho do Fogo. Coffee, figs, apples, and beans also grow in the fertile soil. Despite government efforts to resettle them, many residents returned within months of the 2014 eruption to rebuild their homes and farms on the still-warm lava fields. This cycle of eruptions and rebuilding is life in the caldera, where the same geological forces that threaten existence enable it.