Hundreds of people have been forced to flee the Greek island of Santorini following a swarm of terrifying earthquakes.
Tremors as strong as magnitude five have raised concerns the volcano that forms Santorini’s steep, picturesque cliffs, could erupt.
The risk is high enough that Greek authorities convened an emergency meeting with the Permanent Scientific Monitoring Committee to discuss the possibility of an eruption.
Thankfully, Professor David Pyle, a leading volcanologist from the University of Oxford, reassures that the risk of an eruption is ‘very small’.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: ‘There is no sign that the tremors are directly linked to Santorini volcano.
‘And there is no indication of any changes on Santorini as a result.
‘The precautionary measures that have been taken on Santorini are all to reduce the risk, in case the earthquakes which are shaking the island led to landsliding or building damage.’
But residents can’t relax just yet, as scientists have warned that an earthquake could still send a tsunami their way.
Since last Friday, hundreds of tremors have hit the Greek island of Santorini, with earthquakes triggering every 10 minutes during some periods
Hundreds have been forced to flee the island amid concerns that the tremors could precede a more dangerous event such as a volcanic eruption
Starting on January 28, the islands of Santorini and Amorgos have been rocked by near-constant tremors of magnitudes three to four.
According to the University of Athens’ earthquake monitoring tool, more than 555 earthquakes have hit the area since then.
Most of this series of tremors are located between 12 and 22 miles (20-35 kilometres) north of Santorini near an uninhabited island called Anydros.
None of the earthquakes have been strong enough to cause significant damage, but there are increasing concerns these are only a prelude to a more dangerous event.
‘This level of seismic activity is very unusual. In the past 50 years, there was a small sequence of earthquakes beneath Santorini itself from 2011-2012, but the earthquakes were mostly smaller, and the rate at which they happened was also lower,’ says Professor Pyle.
Residents and visitors have been advised to avoid crowded indoor spaces and to stay away from areas where rockslides could occur while hotels have been instructed to drain swimming pools so that water doesn’t destabilise the building in the event of a serious earthquake.
Meanwhile, Aegean Airlines has said it will add three additional flights to and from Santorini to help residents and visitors flee the island after a request from the Greek government.
Emergency service teams have been deployed on the island in readiness for a dangerous event.
The island of Santorini sits on the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, a chain of volcanic islands stretching across the Aegean Sea. Santorini’s steep cliffs were formed by a massive volcanic explosion 3,500 years ago
Swarms of earthquakes like those experienced on Santorini (pictured) and the surrounding islands can be a sign of impending volcanic activity. However, experts say that the risk of an eruption is low
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said from a meeting in Brussels: ‘We have a very intense geological phenomenon to handle.’
He added: ‘I want to ask our islanders first and foremost to remain calm, to listen to the instructions of the Civil Protection (authority).’
The authority’s primary concern is the potentially deadly effects of a larger earthquake, but there are also worries that these tremors could be a sign of an impending volcanic eruption.
Santorini sits on a geological feature called the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, a series of volcanoes which formed around 2.5 million years ago due to shifting tectonic plates.
Dr Dimitris Sakellariou, an expert on marine geology from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, told MailOnline: ‘There are two main volcanic centres in the area: the first one below the Caldera of Santorini, the second one, the Kolumbo submarine volcano, at roughly 7 km northeast of Santorini.’
The Santorini volcano last erupted in 1950, producing a small amount of lava and sending ash clouds several hundred metres into the sky.
However, geologists believe a vastly more powerful eruption occurred around 1620 BC which destroyed a large part of the island, blanketed the region with ash, and is even believed to have contributed to the downfall of the mighty Minoan civilisation.
Thankfully, experts agree that the current seismic activity is not related to either of the region’s volcanoes.
Dr Sakellariou says: ‘The seismic activity evolves separately from the volcanic activity. The current seismic activity does not coincide with the locations of the volcanic centres.’
Instead, the tremors have been mapped to an exceptionally seismically-active region of the Aegean Sea where there are many tectonic faults.
At this location, the tectonic plate of the Aegean Sea moves southwards, pushing itself beneath the African tectonic plate.
As the plates rub against each other, the friction builds up vast amounts of pressure which must occasionally be released as earthquakes.
Even if the tremors were related to volcanic activity, this is unlikely to pose a significant threat to the island.
Professor Pyle says: ‘There’s no sign of any change in the volcanic system of Santorini at the moment, and the chance of a volcanic eruption is very small.
‘The seismic activity in 2011-12 didn’t lead to an eruption, and over the past 300 years all of the eruptions from the Kameni island volcano on Santorini have involved small eruptions of lava or small ash explosions that posed no immediate threat to the main island of Thira.’
The bigger concern is that the earthquake swarms may continue to escalate.
The bigger concern is that the swarm of volcanoes, as shown on this map, could escalate into a larger seismic event. During the 1950s a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in a similar area triggered a devastating tsunami
The tremors have already triggered landslides on some parts of the island, leading to concerns that a future earthquake could have deadly consequences
While it is not always the case, a high frequency of earthquakes can be a sign that a seriously powerful seismic event is on its way.
Some residents of the island will still remember the magnitude 7.7 earthquake which hit Amorgos and Santorini in 1956.
The tremor killed 53 people, caused mass injuries, and left behind vast amounts of damage.
Dr Sakellariou says: ‘It triggered a large tsunami that flooded the coastline of the nearby islands with run-up heights up to 20-30 m above the shoreline and was also felt along the northern shores of Crete and up to the Turkish coast to the east.’
However, Dr Sakellariou says that whether the current tremors will lead to a similar event is the ‘million-dollar question’.
He added: ‘Seismologists have two scenarios: the first, more probable one, is that the activity will continue for some days, weeks or few months with similar or smaller magnitudes and will gradually cease.
‘The second scenario, which is less probable, is that the activity will culminate with a larger earthquake and will start decreasing after that.’
