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"Archeological reports that I have encountered several times indicate there was earthquake/volcanic disturbance of a less serious nature than the final cataclysm, which nevertheless was sufficient to encourage the populace of Santorini/Thera to move away before the big one, and occurred about 20 years earlier."

I've never heard of that (other than in your posts). The island was apparently abandoned prior to an eruption, as no human remains were found, and (if true) that's likely to have been the result of rumbling and steam and gases in the caldera (which is prehistoric, formed 22,000 years ago, not in the13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, or 17th c BC). In Italy, the Bay of Naples, there was a severe earthquake 17 years prior to the eruption of Vesuvius, the repairs for which were still going on when the famous eruption took place in 79 AD, so perhaps you're thinking of that.

Herodotus wrote quite a bit about the island, and never mentions any eruption -- which makes perfect sense, since the eruption took place long after Herodotus wrote about the island. The super-eruption that ended the Minoan era actually took place in the mind of someone writing in the 1930s, rather than reality, and through repetition has gained a sort of near-consensus status.

Eberhard Zannger (geoarchaeologist) has studied sites on Crete and elsewhere in the Aegean, and has found zero evidence for giant wave destruction in ancient sites. Everything is in quite good shape, except of course that the sites were destroyed by fire, i.o.w., sacked by invaders. In addition, he points out, had the caldera formed in a super duper blast of a volcano, the collapse of the caldera which is claimed as the cause of the tsunami, would have delivered the strongest blow to eastern, mainland Greece (and various Aegean Islands in the way), and not toward Crete.

That doesn't mean there was a tsunami in Greece, either -- again there is no sign of that -- it means that the Mycenaean civilization should have felt the hardest blow had the eruption happened. Instead, the Minoan sites are burned (by the Mycenaeans) and Mycenaean (Greek) culture and polity is spread out over former Minoan areas. And the Mycenaean artifacts show up in the western Mediterranean as well.

Addenda and Corrections to "The Exodus Chronicles"
by Marianne Luban
Recently, in relation to his ongoing excavation at Tell el Daba, which he believes to be the site of ancient Avaris, Manfred Bietak has rescinded his former assertion that the stratum in which Minoan artifacts, decorations and volcanic pumice were discovered belongs to the time of the pharaoh, Ahmose I. Bietak now concludes this stratum can be assigned to the reign of Thutmose III, instead. Bietak also dates the eruption of Thera to ca. 1500 BCE, in light of his new theory, and takes issue with those who place the cataclysmic event to about 130 years earlier. In brief, Bietak now wishes to eliminate any chronological problems connected with his newer theory. Even if he is correct and there was no volcanic blast in the Aegean at the time of King Ahmose, there still remains the unaccountably bad weather and flooding during his reign, as recorded by himself.

And then there is the interesting premise of the Thera volcano devastation while a "Tethmosis" was pharaoh, two disasters having then occurred within a half century--or less.
Helmi, Ezbet
Formerly called Tell el-Qirqafa. Amsterdam University survey of 1984 noted the presence of a quartzite block in the village, measuring 100 x (75+) x 17cm, pierced by a central square shaft. This site was probably the location of the Djadu of the 12th dynasty, found by Labib Habachi. Now the site is the focus of a major excavation by the Austrian Institute, working under cultivated fields some 800 metres west of their excavations at Tell ed-Daba. Major discoveries include Minoan wall paintings, an Eighteenth Dynasty palace, a Hyksos palace and water-supply system.