Nonstop Quakes Leave a Tourist Island Empty and Its Residents on Edge
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Thousands of tremors, sometimes every few minutes, have shaken Santorini, Greece. More than 13,000 of its 15,500 inhabitants have left.
February is a slow time on the Greek island of Santorini, which draws more than three million visitors annually.
But after another week of near-constant earthquakes, the island has taken on an unusual quiet. At least 13,000 of the island’s 15,500 residents, unnerved by the frequent shaking, have left in the past week. The streets are mostly deserted, except for the occasional tourists, most of them from Asia.
Thousands of tremors, sometimes every few minutes, have jolted Santorini, about 150 miles southeast of Athens, and nearby islands since Jan. 25. The shaking peaked with a magnitude-5.2 earthquake on Wednesday northeast of Santorini. A magnitude-5 quake was felt in Athens on Sunday night. Most of the tremors have been relatively small, but there have been 160 tremors with a magnitude over 4 in the first nine days of February, compared with 90 of that strength for all of last year, Vassilis Karastathis, director of the Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens, said on Monday.
The outlook for Santorini, one of Greece’s most popular islands, remains unclear. Experts said making a reliable prediction about what would come next with the shaking was impossible.
“There are signs of stabilization, but we need to see a further drop in the frequency of the tremors to be sure,” Mr. Karastathis said, 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.”
The shaking has prompted the authorities to shut schools and bar large indoor gatherings. Emergency workers have been deployed to the island, and landing craft are on standby for possible evacuations. 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.