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Greece’s ‘Instagram Island’, Santorini has experienced more than 200 earthquakes in the last four days, leading to schools being closed and airlines scheduling additional flights to accommodate people trying to leave the island.
Most of the tremors have been recorded between Santorini and Amorgos in the Aegean Sea, with the strongest reaching a magnitude of 4.6.
Although these quakes are technically considered “minor or light”, authorities have warned people to avoid large indoor gatherings as the “very intense geological phenomenon” continued on Monday.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the media on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union leaders on in Brussels “I want to ask the islanders to remain calm.” Back in Greece, Vassilis Karastathis, director at the Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens, told Greek media that “the seismic activity continues regularly with the same intensity.”
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Nikos Zorzos, the mayor of Santorini however disputed that everyone was fleeing the island, saying that the increase of flights had more to do with seasonal workers leaving than tourists running for the mainland.
Santorini is famed for its crescent-shaped caldera, which was created by one of the largest known volcanic eruptions around 3,600 years ago. The tourist destination has been dubbed Greece’s “Instagram island” because of its photogenic golden light and sweeping scenery.
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The Hellenic Volcanic Arc, one of the most active volcanic fields in Europe, has seen more than 100 eruptions over the past 400,000 years.
The most recent large quake in Santorini struck in 1956. The 7.5-magnitude earthquake was followed by a 25-meter-high (around 80 feet) tsunami. At least 53 people were killed and more than 100 injured, while at least one-third of the houses on the island collapsed.
[source: CNN]
