Hundreds of people left the Greek island of Santorini on Monday due to a series of earthquakes that started on Sunday. Despite the prime minister’s call for calm, many residents and tourists decided to leave the island because they were afraid. Over 200 earthquakes occurred near Santorini since Sunday, with the strongest one reaching a magnitude of 4.9 on Monday. The epicenter of this earthquake was between Santorini and Anafi Island, according to the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, asked the people of Santorini to remain calm while he was in Brussels. However, many neighbors and tourists chose to leave the island, and some spent the night in their vehicles or in safe areas set up by the municipal authorities. The schools on the island were closed on Monday because of the strong earthquakes. About a thousand people took a ferry to Piraeus, the main port near Athens, as reported by AFP journalists. Santorini is a popular tourist destination, with 3.4 million visitors in 2023.
Concerns Among Residents and Tourists
More than a thousand people left Santorini on Sunday, with a ferry carrying 1,100 people from the island. An additional ferry was scheduled to depart at 23:00 GMT, according to an employee of a travel agency. Aegean Airlines also added more flights to and from Santorini on Monday and Tuesday, as reported by the press agency Ana. Dimitris Selistai, a 45-year-old resident of Santorini, expressed his concern, saying, “We are all worried… We must all go and make a line to wait for the ferries, especially to protect our children.” Another resident, Sakavaras, a tour guide who has lived on the island for 17 years, said, “Everything trembled, trembling, trembling every three or four hours yesterday. I had never lived this before” in Santorini.
Sakavaras decided to leave Santorini with his family on Sunday due to safety concerns. After the earthquake, the island’s residents received an alert message from the Greek Ministry of Civil Protection, warning of the risk of landslides in some villages. Experts noted that the seismic activity also affected nearby islands, including Anafi, iOS, and Amorgos. The authorities emphasized that the recent seismic activity is not related to volcanic activity but rather to tectonic movements. They advised residents to stay away from some ports in Santorini, empty their pools, and avoid gathering inside buildings.
Previous Earthquake Incident
In 1956, Santorini experienced a significant earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale, resulting in the loss of about fifty lives and a tsunami. The current situation has raised concerns among residents and tourists, leading many to evacuate the island temporarily. The Greek government and local authorities are monitoring the situation closely and providing guidance to ensure the safety of everyone on the island.