Key points
- Santorini has been hit by a powerful, shallow 5.3 magnitude quake
- Over 12,800 quakes have been detected since January
- Schools will remain closed on Santorini, Amorgos on Tuesday
SANTORINI, Greece: Santorini has been hit by a powerful, shallow 5.3 magnitude quake, which is the strongest to strike the Greek island during recent seismic activity in the area, BBC reported.
The tremors were also felt in Athens on Monday evening and measured a focal depth of 10.6 miles, according to BBC.
Residents of the neighbouring island Amorgos remain on high alert following the latest tremor, which followed a moderate 5.0 magnitude quake between the islands on Sunday evening.
The tourist spot has been rocked by seismic activity since January and over 12,800 earthquakes have been detected by the University of Athens’ Seismological Laboratory.
Landslides have also occurred in many areas of Santorini due to the frequency and intensity of the tremors and experts have not ruled out a major quake.
Seismologists were optimistic regarding the intensity of the earthquakes starting to subside, but are now concerned they are worsening.
A state of emergency
A state of emergency will remain in place on Santorini until at least 3 March, according to media reports.
Sunday’s earthquake was preceded by three smaller ones of more than 4.0 magnitude, while the three on Monday morning were also more than 4.0.
Inspections found no damage to buildings in Santorini or Amorgos.
No injuries have been reported as a result of the quakes, which have numbered in the thousands since 26 January, but over 11,000 people have left the islands.
Schools will remain closed on Santorini, Amorgos, and several other islands on Monday and Tuesday, BBC reported.
A team of the Special Disaster Response Unit has set off for Amorgos from Patras with a special quake rescue vehicle, and technical teams are likely to inspect the electricity network on the island.
BBC cited Kostas Papazachos, a professor of seismology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki as saying that the authorities had to allow for the situation to continue for most or all of February.
Santorini is on what is known as the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, which is a chain of islands created by volcanoes, but the last major eruption was in the 1950s, BBC reported.
“Immediate danger”
According to Greek officials, the recent tremors were linked to tectonic plate movements, not volcanic activity. Earlier, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also insisted Friday there was no “immediate danger” from an unprecedented wave of quakes on the tourist island of Santorini that has forced thousands of residents to leave.
The state was “fully deployed not because we believe… that something disastrous is going to happen, but because we must be ready for any eventuality,” Mitsotakis said during a meeting on the island with local officials, AFP reported.
From 26 January to 8 February 2025, the Seismology Laboratory (SL) of the University of Athens registered over 12,800 earthquakes in the Santorini-Amorgos zone.
