ATHENS, Feb 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Earthquake fears have prompted people to flee Santorini, as Greece’s most popular island destination continues to be hit by what scientists described as a “barrage” of tremors.
With authorities on heightened alert amid mounting concerns of an impending natural disaster, residents, tourists and workers are scrambling to leave the island on ferries and planes.
By midday on Monday, Aegean airlines, the national carrier, had announced it was doubling the number of flights from Athens to Santorini for the next two days, as travel agents said the new flights were sold out “within seconds”.
“We’re monitoring the situation very closely and, following discussions with the ministry of civil protection, will act accordingly,” an airline spokesperson said. Ferry companies said they would also put on extra services as the uptake for passenger tickets on boats soared.
More than 200 undersea tremors shook the island over the weekend – most in waters between Santorini and Amorgos, the Cyclades’ easternmost isle – with scores of fresh overnight earthquakes prompting people to sleep outside or in their cars.
“I cried all night because I was very afraid and didn’t know what to do,” a Mexican tourist on a two-day visit to Santorini was quoted as telling the Greek daily Protothema. “We felt that the ground wasn’t at all stable … We were all saying we should stay calm but how can you be calm when the ground is shaking again and again?”
On Monday, an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, the most powerful yet, was registered at 2.17 PM local time. Land and rockslides were also recorded.
“All scenarios are open,” Dr Gerassimos Papadopoulos, a prominent seismologist, wrote in an online post. “The number of tremors has increased, magnitudes have risen, and epicentres have shifted north-east … The risk level has escalated.”
Later in the day, as speculation of a volcanic eruption also grew, he emphasised that the earthquakes were “tectonic, not volcanic”.
By order of Greece’s civil protection ministry, schools in Santorini and the surrounding islands of Ios, Anafi and Amorgos are to remain shut until Friday, while people were advised as a precautionary measure to avoid derelict buildings and gathering in large numbers in enclosed spaces.
Warnings were also issued to avoid the shoreline and certain ports in case a quake triggered a tsunami. “It appears a seismic fault line has been activated and could cause an earthquake above six [on the Richter scale],” another seismologist, Prof Manolis Skordylis, said on public radio. “We haven’t had the main earthquake yet.” — NNN-AGENCIES