The tremors do not stop, over 11,000 people and 1,200 vehicles have left Santorini

Seismic tremors continue in Santorini, as the number of people evacuated from the island has reached several thousand.

Scientists and authorities have arrived on the island in the midst of the phenomenon, at a time when expert meetings are taking place every day.

Seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos argued that a critical crossroads has been reached, saying that "we are in a sequence of aftershocks" .

"Gradually, the magnitudes from Saturday afternoon until today, from 3.6 on the Richter scale, reached 5 on the Richter scale. It is fully proven that we are in a paraseismic sequence. We have seen an increasing trend in the magnitude and number of earthquakes, while the seismic sequence continues with exactly the same characteristics," said Papadopoulos.

Meanwhile, it turns out that so far 11,000 people have left the island of Santorini. Specifically, 7,000 citizens and 1,200 private vehicles left by ferries, while more than 4,000 chose to leave by plane.

The Greek airline Aegean announced that on Monday, 9 flights to Athens carried a total of 1,294 passengers, while today the day will end with 8 flights.

"In total, during the first two days, Monday and Tuesday, around 2,500-2,700 passengers will have been transported from Santorini to Athens on our flights," the company said in a statement.

There are also major disturbances in Amorgos, due to continuous seismic tremors in the area, at a time when citizens are leaving Santorini by ship and plane.

On Tuesday afternoon, the strongest earthquake since Saturday, when the phenomenon began, occurred, with a magnitude of 5 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter south-southwest of Arkesini and a focal depth of 13.2 kilometers.

The seismic tremors were particularly strong, causing the residents of Amorgos to leave their homes and, taking their cars, move towards the more mountainous parts of the island. As the same information reports, in Katapola and Xylokeratidi most of the residents slept in their cars.

Professor of Geology and Natural Disaster Management, Efthimios Lekkas, spoke about the ongoing seismic sequence between Santorini and Amorgos. According to him, the 5.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred at noon on Tuesday and was also felt in Attica, is too small to be characterized as a major one.

"A 5.0 magnitude earthquake is too small to be the main one. Personally, I would prefer a 5.5 earthquake that would not cause any effect. But this earthquake may have signaled a main earthquake and the beginning of a decrease in seismic activity," Lekkas said.

Seismic activity in the area is monitored by the Seismology Laboratory of the University of Athens, which in its announcement states that from June 2024 to February 1, 2025, over 2,500 earthquakes occurred, while 1,200 earthquakes occurred within three days. (A2 Televizion)