Biggest quake yet could be still to come on Greek tourist island, seismologist warns

CNN ^ | February 7, 2025 | Sophie Tanno,

[BenLurkin]

Rémy Bossu, Secretary-General of the European-Mediterranean Siesmological Centre, said “days, or perhaps, weeks” would be needed to evaluate the unusual tremors but said that the series of quakes typically occur in the build-up to a larger tremor.

A state of emergency has been declared in the idyllic Greek island of Santorini amid a series of near-constant tremors in recent days, which have almost emptied the famous Greek tourist haven of visitors and residents.

The largest tremor so far was recorded on Wednesday evening, when a quake with a magnitude of 5.2 coursed through the island. It was the first to exceed 5.0 since the tremors began last week.

Sitting near the boundary of the massive African and Eurasian tectonic plates, Santorini often experiences seismic activity, but rarely so intensely for so long. As well as Santorini, the nearby islands of Amorgos and Ios have also been shaken.

Bossu described the current seismic activity rocking Santorini – which is known as an “earthquake swarm” – as “very unusual.”

Normally, he says, “what you observe is a large earthquake followed by aftershocks which decrease with time in magnitude and frequency.

“Here, we observe a very different (phenomenon). We see that the magnitude has been increasing with time and the rate has been increasing, so this is not typical behavior,” he told CNN.

[SunkenCiv]

Nice shot. I’ve never been there, but the place appears to be quite an eyeful. Half the population has fled, and the big concern among those who remain is, this could wreck the tourist season (about a ten week period).

https://static.greatbigcanvas.com/images/singlecanvas_thick_none/estock/greece-aegean-islands-cyclades-santorini-island-oia-village-typical-church,2437001.jpg