Evacuations Underway as Santorini Faces Series of Earthquakes
Hundreds of people crowded a port in Santorini in the early hours of Tuesday, boarding ferries bound for safety in Athens due to ongoing seismic activity on the famous Greek island. A series of earthquakes began affecting the area last Friday, with hundreds recorded in the Aegean Sea between the volcanic islands of Santorini and Amorgos, prompting authorities to shutter schools in both Santorini and nearby islands like Ios, Amorgos, and Anafi until the end of the week.
A significant tremor registering a magnitude of 4.7 was captured by the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) at 0653 GMT. The picturesque island, known for its whitewashed villages perched on cliffs overlooking the sea, has seen its usual bustle come to a halt.
"Everything is closed. No one works now. The whole island has emptied," said Dori, an 18-year-old local resident who preferred not to share his last name, while awaiting his ferry to Athens. He expressed uncertainty about how long they would be away. "We will go to Athens until we see how things develop here."
To accommodate the increasing number of those wishing to leave, additional flights were scheduled for the day, indicating a growing concern among residents and tourists alike. As tourists hurriedly gathered their belongings to escape the tremors, fear loomed over the island with ongoing seismic activity expected to last days or even weeks.
With the threat of landslides due to vibrations, experts have advised avoiding coastal areas and large indoor gatherings. Precautionary measures included some hotels emptying their pools to reduce structural stress from the added water load.
Greece is recognized as one of the most seismically active countries in Europe, positioned predominantly at the intersection of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. This geological positioning leads to regular and sometimes intense earthquake activity. The iconic shape of Santorini is a result of one of the most significant volcanic eruptions in recorded history, which occurred around 1600 BC, with the most recent eruption in the region taking place in 1950.
The ongoing situation in Santorini highlights the vulnerability of the stunning location, drawing attention from tourists and geological experts alike as the world watches how the highly seismic Aegean region copes with this latest crisis.
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