Is the Greek island fleeing after the earthquake

  

Santorini
The earthquake on Santorini shakes the residents

Rebecka Rosengart

Published 2025-02-03 23.55

Here people are leaving Santorini. Photo: Petros Giannakouris / AP

A fourth day of earthquakes on the Greek island of Santorini is a fact.

Now residents and tourists are fleeing in fear.

– How can you be calm when the ground shakes over and over again? says a Mexican tourist who is on the island toProtothema.

Greek local media are hot on the reporting of the earthquake on Santorini.

For four days in a row, the popular holiday island has been hit by hundreds of earthquakes. On Monday afternoon local time, a quake reached 4.8 on the Richter scale – which was the highest level reported so far in recent days.

Extra flights and ferries have transported families and people who have chosen to leave the island.

Schools have also closed as a result of the earthquake. In addition to Santorini, there will be no classes in schools on Ios, Amorgos and Anafi until the end of the week, several media. This has been ordered by the Greek Civil Protection Agency.

Experts warn - the danger is not over

Despite the tremors having continued for several days, experts cannot give any reassuring news yet.

- We have not had the biggest earthquake, a seismologist tells The Guardian.
- The risk level has escalated, says another.

And Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says the situation is currently challenging.

- We have a very intense geological phenomenon to deal with, he told reporters in Brussels, when he attended an informal EU meeting.

He urged residents to remain calm and listen to the instructions from the relevant authorities.

While residents and tourists flee the island, medical personnel and emergency services are arriving. The army has not been ruled out being deployed as part of increased preparedness.

The rescue services have set up tents on the island. Photo: Petros Giannakouris / AP

“Every five minutes”

One person who bought tickets to leave the island with his wife and son is Tzanis Lignos, 35, who the news channel Ekathimerin spoke to.

– For three days now there have been earthquakes all the time, every five minutes. It is continuous and it does not stop at all – the whole island is traumatized. No one could sleep last night because there was a lot of noise. We ran out, and that is why we cannot stay here anymore, he says.

A Mexican tourist who the newspaper Protothema spoke to testifies to fear about what has happened and what may happen in the future.

– I cried all night because I was very scared and did not know what to do. We felt that the ground was not stable. We all said we would stay calm but how can you stay calm when the ground is shaking again and again?

Archive photo from Santorini. Photo: Kristina Nylin

Flight tickets sell out

Greece's largest airline Aegean Airlines announced on Monday evening that it had doubled the number of flights between the capital Athens and Santorini on Tuesday and Wednesday. The reason is that travel agencies said tickets sold out "within seconds".

Santorini is one of Greece's most popular tourist islands. In 2023, over three million tourists visited Santorini, according to AFP. There are only just over 15,000 permanent residents on the island.