Tourists flee Santorini as ‘intense’ earthquakes hit volcanic island

 

 

Disaster response units deployed as tremors of up to magnitude four rock popular holiday destination every few minutes  Tourists and locals have been forced to flee the Greek holiday island of Santorini after it was hit by “intense” tremors for a fourth day in a row.

Quakes, some with a magnitude of over four, shook the popular destination’s narrow streets and white-washed villas every few minutes on Monday as people were told to avoid crammed indoor spaces.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s prime minister, said: “I want to ask our islanders above all to remain calm,” adding that authorities were monitoring the “very intense” geological phenomenon.

Footage filmed overlooking the island’s steep cliffs captured multiple rock slides tumbling into the crystal clear waters.Since Friday, hundreds of tremors have been recorded between the volcanic islands of Santorini and Amorgos in the Aegean Sea, forcing authorities to announce school closures on both islands, as well as on the nearby Ios and Anafi.

Additional flights were scheduled at the request of the Greek government to help people leave the island, which is part of an ancient volcanic caldera.

Efthymios Lekkas, a professor of tectonic geology who is part of a team of experts assessing the situation on the ground, told Greek television: “We estimate it [the tremors] will continue for some days and there could be a lengthy seismic sequence.”

Local officials said that those working on the island, as well as some tourists visiting in off-season, have rushed to leave, while residents have been sleeping in their cars. Videos taken over the weekend showed crowds of tourists climbing aboard a ferry at Athinios port to escape the island.Eden Higgins, from London, was eating in a restaurant in Santorini on Friday when she felt the tremors start.

She told The Telegraph: “We were having lunch during the thunderstorms and suddenly I stopped, touched the table and felt what we thought was an earthquake.

“We didn’t believe it could be so brushed over... thinking it was thunder,” she added, saying she was glad she left the island on Friday night.

Residents on the island, who largely live in clifftop villages, have been left feeling nervous by the persistent quakes. 

One resident told Greek outlet Proto Thema: “We will not sleep in our homes tonight. The earth is constantly shaking and we are afraid of what might happen.”