Tourists Have Earthquake-Shaken Santorini Almost to Themselves

SANTORINI – With 13,000 of Santorini’s 15,000 residents scared off the island by thousands of earthquakes in two weeks, some minutes apart, one the world’s most favored and visited islands is nearly empty of inhabitants, leaving tourists walking around.

Another moderate quake of 5.1 magnitude hit Feb. 11 and was felt as far away as Athens, some 230 kilometers (143 miles) and more seismic activity was felt between Santorini and the island of Amorgos, where a 1957 quake killed 56.

In between the incessant shaking on Santorini there is nervous quiet and dread, the earthquakes coming in mid-winter, the period of the year with the fewest visitors but while ferries and airplanes are taking people off, visitors are still arriving.

The New York times noted that while most of the tremors have been mild they still rattle people so much that most have fled, fearful that the dormant sunken Caldera volcano on an islet there and the underwater volcano of Kolumbo could erupt.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/world/europe/greece-santorini-earthquakes.html

Scientists say there’s little chance of that happening but admit there’s uncertainty over the unprecedented events of constant quakes, with 160 tremors over a a magnitude of four so far in February and another of 5.2.

It all came just as the campaign to lure tourists to Santorini for the summer was about to start, the island seeing about 3.5 million people a year and so popular that cruise boat arrivals were going to be limited.

Vassilis Karastathis, Director of the Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens, said, “There are signs of stabilization, but we need to see a further drop in the frequency of the tremors to be sure,” adding that the quakes could continue for weeks. “A lot of the seismic energy has been released, but we still can’t rule out a large earthquake,” he said.

Schools have been shut and large indoor gatherings prohibited. Emergency workers have been deployed to the island, and landing craft are on standby for possible evacuations, the paper said. Some areas of Santorini have been cordoned off because of landslide fears, and sandbags have been set up next to seaside homes. Psychologists from the Hellenic Red Cross have counseled worried residents, and priests have held prayers for the quakes to stop.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

After a State of Emergency was declared to ensure that aid could be released quickly, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the island and said, “We’re preparing for the worst while hoping for the best,

Giorgos Kalamatas, 37, who owns a business that organizes fireworks for weddings on Santorini, returned to his family home in Athens with his wife and their three young children. “The constant shaking was nerve-racking, and we were worried about the kids,” Mr. Kalamatas, 37, said, adding that hoped to return next weekend. “We’re going to have to live with it,” he told the paper.

The key question is whether the current tremors constitute a “seismic swarm,” a sequence of tremors without a distinct main earthquake, or whether they are a precursor to a larger temblor of a magnitude around 6, Karastathis said.

A scientific committee said hat the seismic activity was not linked to two volcanoes in the area and ruled out an eruption and scientists retrieved underwater seismic monitors and installed new ones, hoping to gather more clues.

Many of those who have stayed on Santorini work in hotels, even though most are closed. Annual renovations have halted with construction and repair work banned during the quakes. “One employee was scared and left, and others aren’t sure about returning in April,” said Antonis Iliopoulos who owns three hotels on the island. He said he has yet to receive cancellations for spring bookings and saw the quakes as “more an annoyance than a danger.”

Hotels in the cliff-side areas of Fira and Oia, popular with tourists for their spectacular views, could be most at risk from landslides, said Dimitrios Papanikolaou, a geology professor at the University of Athens, who said that foundations made of hardened lava and pumice stone would be “flimsy.”

“In those areas, a stronger earthquake could cause sections of buildings like balconies and swimming pools to collapse,” he said.

Officials discussed the same risks during a quake swarm in 2011, Mr. Papanikolaou added. “They talked about making buildings safer, but nothing happened,” he said. “Now they’re talking about it again, but when the quakes stop, we’ll probably forget about it, until it happens again in 10, 20, 30 years.”