The maps illustrate how a town in the Atlantic Ocean was affected by a volcanic eruption in May 1706, while a separate diagram indicates the location of the volcano relative to the settlement.
Overall, the eruption caused substantial changes to the town. Whereas the residential area and town square survived, the castle and port were completely lost beneath lava flows. As a consequence, the town’s maritime links were eliminated entirely.
Before the eruption, the eastern side of the town contained a castle and a port handling approximately 60 ships per month, with regular routes connecting the settlement to both Europe and America. However, following two successive lava flows in May 1706, both of these facilities disappeared. The first flow spread across the northern part of the town on 8 May, while the second advanced from the east on 16 May, eventually reaching the coastline. As a result, the castle and port were buried under lava, and shipping activity ceased altogether.
The western part of the settlement experienced far less dramatic changes. Although the town lay only around 8 kilometres from the volcano and became encircled by lava from the north and east after the eruption, the residential district and town square remained largely intact. Consequently, while much of the town’s commercial and strategic infrastructure was destroyed, its main residential area survived.