The island is part of the Cycling Archipelagoin it Aegean Sea. It has around 15,500 inhabitants, of which most had to leave their homes.
In addition, it is one of the most visited islands in Greece, with 3.4 million tourists In 2023. in 1956the island suffered a 7.5 degree earthquake, which killed about 50 people and caused a tsunami.
The strongest earthquake occurred on Monday and reached a Magnitude of 4.9 degrees on the scale of Ritcher. His epicenter was between Santorini and the Anafi Islandaccording to the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens.
What did the authorities of Greece say
From Brussels, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos mitsotakisasked the inhabitants of the island “Keep calm”but numerous neighbors and tourists decided to leave anyway.
Others They spent the night out of their homes or sheltersin vehicles or in safe enclosures arranged by the municipal authorities themselves to the protection of any inconvenience.
The schools remained closed by the intensity of the tremors. Also They embarked about a thousand people In a ferry to PIREOthe main port to southern Athens.
An employee of a travel agency indicated that additional ferrys are planned. Aegean Airlines It also chartered additional flights Monday and Tuesday to and from Santorini.
The word of the inhabitants
The inhabitants of the island expressed their fear for what happened: “We are all worried. We must all go and line up to wait for the Ferry, especially to protect our children, ”he said Selistai dimitris45, who has been working in Santorini for 25 years.
“Everything trembled, trembling, trembling every three or four hours yesterday. I had never lived this before, ”he said Kostas Sakavarasa tourist guide based on the island for 17 years. On Sunday, he decided to leave from Santorini with his family “for security reasons.”
Minutes after the earthquake, the island residents They received an alert message from the Greek Ministry of Civil Protectionwhich warned of “Risk of Earth’s Burdes” In some villages.
According to experts, seismic activity also affected other nearby islands such as Anafi, iOS and Amorgos. The authorities emphasize that the seismic activity observed in recent days is not the result of volcanic activity, but tectonic movements.
Source: Ambito
