Thread: Emergency crews deployed on Santorini as an earthquake swarm worries Greek experts

Authorities deployed emergency rescue crews to Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini on Monday as hundreds of people scrambled to leave after a spike in seismic activity raised concerns about a potentially powerful earthquake. Schools on four islands were also to shutter through Friday.


Precautions were also ordered on several nearby Aegean Sea islands — all popular summer vacation destinations — after more than 200 undersea earthquakes were recorded in the area over the past three days.

“We have a very intense geological phenomenon to handle,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said from Brussels, where he was attending a European meeting. “I want to ask our islanders first and foremost to remain calm, to listen to the instructions of the Civil Protection (authority).”


Mobile phones on the island blared with alert warnings about the potential for rockslides, while several earthquakes caused loud rumbles. Authorities banned access to some seaside areas, including the island’s old port, that are in close proximity to cliffs.

“These measures are precautionary, and authorities will remain vigilant,” Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias said late Sunday following an emergency government meeting in Athens. “We urge citizens to strictly adhere to safety recommendations to minimize risk.”

While Greek experts say the quakes, which have reached magnitude 4.9 are not linked to Santorini’s volcano, they acknowledge that the pattern of seismic activity is cause for concern.


Government officials met with scientists throughout the weekend and on Monday to assess the situation, while schools were also ordered shut on the nearby islands of Amorgos, Anafi and Ios for the entire week.


Residents are concerned

The frequency of the quakes, which continued throughout Sunday night and into Monday, has worried residents and visitors.


“I have never felt anything like this and with such frequency — an earthquake every 10 or 20 minutes. Everyone is anxious even if some of us hide it not to cause panic, but everyone is worried,” said Michalis Gerontakis, who is also the director of the Santorini Philharmonic Orchestra.

“We came out yesterday and performed. Despite the earthquakes, the philharmonic performed for a religious occasion,” Gerontakis said. “When you are playing, you cannot feel the quakes but there were earthquakes when we were at the church. No one can know what will happen. People can say whatever they like, but that has no value. You cannot contend with nature.”


Residents and visitors were advised to avoid large indoor gatherings and areas where rock slides could occur, while hotels were instructed to drain swimming pools to reduce potential building damage from an earthquake.


Fire service rescuers who arrived on the island on Sunday set up yellow tents as a staging area inside a basketball court next to the island’s main hospital.


“We arrived last night, a 26-member team of rescuers and one rescue dog,” said fire brigadier Ioannis Billias, adding that many residents, including entire families, spent the night in their cars.

Some residents and local workers headed to travel agents seeking plane or ferry tickets to leave the island.


“We’ve had earthquakes before but never anything like this. This feels different,” said Nadia Benomar, a Moroccan tour guide who has lived on the island for 19 years. She bought a ferry ticket Monday for the nearby island of Naxos.


“I need to get away for a few days until things calm down,” she said.

A queue of cars and hundreds of people formed at the island’s main port Monday afternoon to catch a ferry leaving Santorini.


Others said they were willing to take the risk. Restaurant worker Yiannis Fragiadakis had been away but said he returned to Santorini on Sunday despite the earthquakes.


“I wasn’t afraid. I know that people are really worried and are leaving, and when I got to the port it was really busy, it was like the summer,” Fragiadakis said. “I plan to stay and hopefully the restaurant will start working (for the holiday season) in three weeks.”

South Korean tourist Soo Jin Kim, from Seoul, arrived Sunday on a family vacation.


“We had dinner last night at the hotel and felt mild shakes about 10 times. But at midnight we felt a big one, a big shake so I checked the news report we are half-worried and half-looking to see what the situation is,” she said, adding she didn’t plan to change her travel plans.

Santorini volcano blew up 3,500 years ago


Crescent-shaped Santorini is a premier tourism destination with daily arrivals via commercial flights, ferries, and cruise ships. The island draws more than 3 million visitors annually to its whitewashed villages built along dramatic cliffs formed by a massive volcanic eruption — considered to be one of the largest in human history — more than 3,500 years ago.


That eruption, which occurred around 1620 B.C., destroyed a large part of the island, blanketed a wide area in meters (feet) of ash and is believed to have contributed to the decline of the ancient Minoan civilization, which had flourished in the region.


Although it is still an active volcano, the last notable eruption occurred in 1950.


Prominent Greek seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos cautioned that the current earthquake sequence – displayed on live seismic maps as a growing cluster of dots between the islands of Santorini, Ios, Amorgos, and Anafi — could indicate a larger impending event.


“All scenarios remain open,” Papadopoulos wrote in an online post. “The number of tremors has increased, magnitudes have risen, and epicenters have shifted northeast. While these are tectonic quakes, not volcanic, the risk level has escalated.”


In Santorini’s main town of Fira, local authorities designated gathering points for residents in preparation for a potential evacuation, though Mayor Nikos Zorzos emphasized the preventive nature of the measures.


“We are obliged to make preparations. But being prepared for something does not mean it will happen,” he said during a weekend briefing. “Sometimes, the way the situation is reported, those reports may contain exaggerations... so people should stay calm.”

Emergency crews deployed on Santorini as an earthquake swarm worries Greek experts | AP News

Thousands leave as fresh tremors shake Greece's Santorini

Thousands of people fled the Greek island of Santorini by sea and air for a third day on Tuesday (Feb 4), as more earthquakes shook the top travel destination.


Some 7,000 people have left the island, known for its spectacular cliffside views and dormant volcano, which has been hit by hundreds of tremors since last week, officials said.


One quake with a magnitude of 4.9 hit early Tuesday and hours later was followed by a 5.0-magnitude tremor.


Some 750 earthquakes have shaken the island and the surrounding 1,000 square kilometres since Jan 24, according to Greek monitors.

No injuries or damage have been reported on Santorini and the neighbouring islands of Anafi, Ios and Amorgos however.


Experts say the region has not experienced seismic activity on this scale since records began in 1964.


"This is the first time this is happening, we have not seen it before," Athanassios Ganas, research director at the Earthquake Research Institute of Geodynamics, told state TV ERT.


He noted that the area had been hit with over 40 earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 4.0 in the past 72 hours.


Santorini lies atop a volcano which last erupted in 1950 - but an experts' committee on Monday said the current phenomenon was "not linked to volcanic activity."

According to the Greek coastguard, over 5,700 people have left the island by ferry since Sunday.


Aegean Airlines said it had flown nearly 1,300 people out of Santorini on Monday, with another eight flights able to carry 1,400 passengers scheduled for Tuesday.


Ferry services to Santorini have also been increased.


Schools on all four islands have been shut as a precaution until Friday, prompting many people with children to leave until the quake scare eases.


Some tourists on the island say they are not overly concerned.


"I'm not so worried about the earthquake or volcano because I came from Tokyo," said Wataru Saito, a 43-year-old economist who spent a day on the island.


He noted that the tremor levels in Santorini are negligible compared to the earthquakes experienced in Japan.

"TINY" TREMORS


Roger Beauchamp from Arizona called the tremors "tiny."


"We've been feeling them all day, little light ones. So we're not afraid of them," he told AFP.


The head of Greece's earthquake planning and protection authority, Efthymios Lekkas, has said that a major earthquake of 6.0 magnitude was unlikely.


"The residents of Santorini should feel safe. There must not be panic," he told Mega TV on Tuesday.


Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday also appealed for calm, whilst admitting that the phenomenon is "very intense".


Santorini attracted about 3.4 million visitors in 2023.


European travel agents contacted by AFP said foreign visitors to Santorini at this time of year were minimal, with more bookings expected in the spring.


Ted Stathis, who runs a catamaran company and a sushi restaurant, said he expected the disruption to "blow over soon."


"I have to admit, it's something out of the ordinary," the 54-year-old said.


"I mean, we have had tremors throughout the years, but sporadically. These are just many, many concentrated."


"As long as they start subsiding, we should be in the clear," Stathis said, noting that most of his reservations start later this month.

Thousands leave as fresh tremors shake Greece's Santorini - CNA

Santorini Municipality

Storm of Earthquakes Prompts Exodus From Greek Island

The popular Greek tourist island of Santorini has experienced thousands of near-constant earthquakes since Jan. 25, prompting more than 13,000 of the island’s 15,500 residents to leave the island, according to The New York Times. The largest temblor, a 5.2-magnitude quake, struck north of the island on Wednesday. Magnitude 5 and 5.3 quakes were felt in Athens on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Vassilis Karastathis, director of the Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens, told the Times he is unsure if the quakes will result in a large earthquake or if the tremors will soon stabilize. He said, “A lot of the seismic energy has been released, but we still can’t rule out a large earthquake.” He says the quakes, most of which have been small, may continue for weeks. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared a state of emergency and said on Friday, “We’re preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.” Emergency services are on standby to provide support and evacuate residents if necessary, and some parts of the island have been closed off due to fear of landslides.

Storm of Earthquakes Prompts Exodus From Greek Island

Greece to build escape port on Santorini as quakes continue, says minister

Greece will soon set up an evacuation port on the island of Santorini to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits the popular tourist destination, a Greek minister said on Monday.


Santorini, a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea, has been shaken by tens of thousands of mild quakes since late January, forcing thousands of people to flee, and authorities to ban construction activity, and shut schools and nearby islands.

No major damage has been reported but scientists have said the seismic activity was unprecedented even in a quake-prone country like Greece and have not ruled out bigger tremors.


They have identified the main ferry port at the foot of a precipitous slope and other sites across Santorini as weak links, although they have not said they cannot be used in an emergency situation.


Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Greece will build an evacuation port for the safe docking of passenger ferries until a new port infrastructure is in place.


"Along with the new port in Santorini which is being prepared, there was a decision for setting up an escape port on the part of the island where passenger ferries would be able to dock in an emergency," he said in an interview with Greek ANT1 television.


Although the tremors lessened over the weekend, local authorities extended emergency measures for a third week on Sunday and reiterated calls for people to stay away from coastal areas and steep hillsides prone to landslides.

"This story is not over," Costas Papazachos, a seismology professor, and a spokesperson for the Santorini quakes told public broadcaster ERT.


"Both authorities and habitants should get used to a rather unpleasant situation for some time, it could be another two, three months."


Santorini took its current shape following one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, around 1600 BC.


Seismologists have said the latest seismic activity, the result of moving tectonic plates and magma, has pushed subsurface layers of the island upwards.

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