Thousands of inhabitants are escaping the Greek isle of Santorini amid a surge of seismic disturbances.
Approximately 6,000 individuals have departed the island via ferry since Sunday, according to regional media, with emergency flights set to depart on Tuesday.
Over 300 tremors have been registered in the past 48 hours near the island – and some specialists say shocks may persist for weeks. Officials have shut schools for the entire week and cautioned against large indoor assemblies, but Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged composure.
Santorini is a renowned vacation spot known for its whitewashed structures, but most of those departing are natives, as February is outside the peak holiday period.
Several quakes, measuring up to magnitude 4.7, were detected north-east of Santorini early on Tuesday.
Although no significant destruction has been recorded so far, emergency protocols are being implemented as a safeguard.
Hundreds of individuals lined up at a harbor in the early hours of Tuesday morning to board a ferry bound for the mainland.
“Everything is shut down. No one is working now. The whole island has emptied,” an 18-year-old resident told Reuters news agency before boarding the vessel.
In addition to 6,000 people who have exited the island by ferry since Sunday, around 2,500 to 2,700 passengers will have flown from Santorini to Athens via airplane on Monday and Tuesday, according to Aegean Airlines.
The airline stated it had added three emergency flights to its timetable, with capacity for hundreds of travelers, following a request from the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.
Santorini is a compact island with a populace of just 15,500. It hosts millions of visitors each year.
Kostas Sakavaras, a tour guide who has resided on Santorini for 18 years, left the island with his spouse and children on Monday.
“We believed it’s a wiser decision to come to the mainland as a precaution,” he told BBC News.
“Nothing has collapsed, or anything like that,” he said, adding that the most unsettling aspect had been the noise. “That’s the most terrifying part of it,” said Mr. Sakavaras, who intends to return home once schools reopen.
Educational institutions are scheduled to remain shut on the island until Friday. Authorities have also advised people to avoid specific regions of the island and drain their swimming pools.
Premier Mitsotakis stated on Monday that Greece was striving to handle “a very intense geological occurrence.”
Seismologists regard the recent shocks as minor, but precautionary steps have been enforced in case a stronger tremor arises.
Emergency units have warned locals to evacuate the areas of Ammoudi, Armeni, and the Old Port of Fira due to rockslides.
The South Aegean Regional Fire Service has been placed on high alert, and rescue squads have been mobilized, with teams standing by next to large yellow medical shelters on the island.
Santorini is located on what is recognized as the Hellenic Volcanic Arc – a cluster of islands formed by volcanoes – but the last substantial eruption occurred in the 1950s.
Greek officials stated that the recent quakes were associated with tectonic plate movements rather than volcanic unrest.
