Update posted 06/02/25 12.00 New Zealand Time
Earthquakes rattled Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes overnight and into Wednesday (Thursday NZT) as authorities bolstered emergency plans in case the hundreds of temblors over the past few days are a harbinger of a larger quake to come.
A coast guard vessel and a military landing craft were in the wider area in case an evacuation is required, Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias told an emergency meeting with security officials, scientists and the prime minister in Athens.
“We are obliged to draw up scenarios for better and for worse,” Kikilias said during the meeting, which was televised live.
Greece lies in a highly seismically active area and earthquakes are frequent. But it is extremely rare for any part of the country to experience such an intense barrage of frequent earthquakes.
Predicting earthquakes is not scientifically possible, and experts cannot determine definitively whether the seismic activity between the islands of Santorini and Amorgos is a precursor to a significantly larger earthquake, or is part of weeks or months of small or moderate intensity quakes.
“I understand the fear of what it means at the moment to be on a Santorini that is constantly moving,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, as he called on residents to remain calm.
Original story
Residents have been warned to avoid indoor gatherings, check escape routes, stay away from cliffs and to drain swimming pools to reduce potential structural damage to buildings in the event of a large earthquake.
The Mayor of Santorini has said the hundreds of earthquakes that have hit Greek islands on the Aegean Sea are a “seismic swarm” and could continue for weeks before eventually diminishing.
“This phenomenon may play out with small quakes or a single, slightly stronger one, followed by gradual subsidence,” said Mayor Nikos Zorzos, adding he was cautiously optimistic after speaking to seismologists who described the swarm as a series of tremors of similar magnitude occurring in clusters.
Emergencies rescue crews have been deployed to the Greek volcanic island after hundreds of quakes with magnitudes between 3 and 4.9 have been registered since Saturday between Santorini and the nearby island of Amorgos.
Authorities sent rescuers with a sniffer dog and drones to Santorini, where they set up tents in a basketball court next to the island’s main hospital as a staging area. Push alerts have been sent to mobile phones warning people to stay away from areas where rock slides could occur, and banning access to some coastal areas.
Hundreds of people have fled the island and schools on Santorini, as well as the nearby islands of Anafi, Amorgos and Ios have been ordered to remain shut all week.
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.
Government officials met with scientists throughout the weekend and on Monday to assess the situation.
“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).”
While Greek experts say the quakes are not linked to Santorini’s volcano, they acknowledge that the pattern of seismic activity is cause for concern.
“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 minimise risk.”
Santorini lies along the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, which stretches from the Peloponnese in southern Greece through the Cycladic islands.
There are two volcanoes in the area: Nea Kameni, an islet within Santorini’s caldera; and Kolumbo, a submarine volcano about 8 kilometres northeast of Santorini.
“What we must realize is that the Santorini volcano produces very large explosions every 20,000 years,” Efthymios Lekkas, seismologist and head of the scientific monitoring committee for the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, said last week.
“It’s been 3,000 years since the last explosion, so we have a very long time ahead of us before we face a big explosion.”
