Greece’s authorities have declared a state of emergency on Santorini after a sequence of earthquakes shook the favored vacationer vacation spot.
Greater than 10,000 residents and staff fled the island this week as near-constant tremors and undersea earthquakes have been recorded between Santorini and the islands of Amorgos, Anafi and Ios.
A 5.2 magnitude quake struck on Wednesday night time – probably the most highly effective recorded since exercise began on 31 January.
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A person walks on an empty road in Oia, Santorini. Pic: AP Picture/Petros Giannakouris
Authorities warned of a excessive landslide danger, and have shut colleges, dispatched rescuers, and suggested residents to keep away from ports and indoor gatherings.
A few of the island’s well-known cliff-top cities have been cordoned off.
Military, hearth service and police items have additionally been deployed to the island.
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The cliff-top metropolis of Fira. Santorini is legendary for its picturesque cities – however many have now been cordoned off. Pic: AP Picture/Petros Giannakouris
The state of emergency is ready to be in place till 3 March to permit Greece’s local weather disaster and civil safety ministry to reply to the results of the seismic exercise.
Greece is one among Europe’s most earthquake-prone international locations however seismologists have stated the excessive degree of exercise is unprecedented and will final weeks or months.
The specialists say the tremors are unrelated to volcanic exercise within the Aegean Sea, however are unable to say whether or not they could lead on as much as a extra highly effective earthquake.
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Flora, 94, queues for a ferry sure for the Greek mainland. Pic: AP Picture/Petros Giannakouris
“We are not yet in a position to say that we are seeing any evidence that would lead to the sequence slowly coming to a conclusion,” stated Vassilis Okay Karastathis, a seismologist and director of analysis at Nationwide Observatory of Athens.
“We are still in the middle of the road, we haven’t seen any easing, any sign that it’s heading towards a regression.”
However the reality the tremors are underwater considerably reduces the potential for widespread harm in comparison with land-based seismic occasions.
Santorini was fashioned in its present form following one of many largest volcanic eruptions in historical past in round 1600 BC.
