Santorini [Greece], February 4 (ANI): Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appealed for calm as 200 earthquakes have left the residents of Santorini island, and its neighbours in the Aegean Sea, rattled, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
The picturesque crescent-shaped tourist destination has been dubbed Greece’s ‘Instagram island’ due to its sweeping scenery and perfectly saturated “no filter” splendour.
Records from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) showed the quakes were continuing to occur a few minutes apart as of 7am on Tuesday (05:00 GMT), with the largest quake recorded at magnitude 5.1 on Monday afternoon.
The latest earthquake to strike the region was at 06:06pm IST.
https://x.com/EMSC/status/1886756461620920565
Speaking from Brussels, Mitsotakis told Al Jazeera authorities have been monitoring a “very intense” geological phenomenon over recent days, before urging “our islanders above all to remain calm”.
Thousands of locals and holidaymakers have crowded onto ferries and flights to leave Santorini and the neighbouring islands of Anafi, Ios and Amorgos, amid fears the tremors, which have so far caused minimal damage and no injuries, could indicate a larger earthquake is coming.
The Santorini island, dubbed as ‘Instagram Island’ is home to a dormant volcano, but an expert committee set up to monitor the situation said an estimated 200 quakes of magnitude 3 or more had been registered, but stressed the phenomenon was “not linked to volcanic activity”.
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.
Although Santorini still has an active volcano, the last notable eruption occurred in 1950.
“What we must realise 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, as per Al Jazeera.
Santorini draws more than three million visitors annually to its whitewashed villages built along dramatic cliffs formed by a massive volcanic eruption around 1620 BC, considered to be one of the largest in human history, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)
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