Earthquakes near Santorini island lead to school closures and cause concern for locals

ATHENS – After a series of earthquakes near the Greek island of Santorini, authorities have taken precautions such as closing schools, deploying rescue teams with sniffer dogs, and advising residents to empty their swimming pools.

Although earthquake experts have stated that the 200+ tremors occurring since early Friday are not linked to the Santorini volcano, which has a history of major eruptions, local residents remain anxious.

The most powerful earthquake, measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale, was recorded at 3:55 p.m. on Sunday, with a depth of 14 kilometers (9 miles), according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute. Subsequent tremors above magnitude 4 and numerous around magnitude 3 have occurred, but thankfully without any reports of damage or casualties.

Earthquake experts and officials from the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and the fire service have been meeting daily and decided to close schools Monday on the island of Santorini as well as nearby Amorgos, Anafi and Ios.

After Sunday’s meeting, they also advised residents and hotel owners in Santorini to drain their swimming pools over concerns that large volumes of water could destabilize buildings in case of a strong quake.

Another meeting was scheduled Sunday evening at the prime minister’s office with the chief of Greece’s armed forces and other officials.

The fire service sent a contingent of rescuers including a sniffer dog on Saturday, and dispatched more forces Sunday, as a precaution. The rescuers have pitched tents in open fields.

Island residents have been advised to avoid large open-air events and to move about the islands mindful of rockfalls. All four islands have steep cliffs and, in the case of Santorini, a large part on the main town is built on a cliffside.

Experts said it was impossible to predict whether the seismic activity could lead to a stronger tremor, but added that the area could potentially produce a 6 magnitude quake.

Mild earthquakes have also been recorded in Santorini’s volcano caldera, which is mostly undersea, since September. The strongest one with magnitude 3.8 occurred on Jan. 25. Since then, seismic activity inside the volcano has subsided, experts say.

The Santorini volcano eruption at about 1600 B.C. devastated the island, buried a town, and caused massive earthquakes and flooding that impacted the island of Crete and as far as Egypt. Experts estimate that up to 41.3 cubic kilometers (9.8 cubic miles) of rocks were ejected and 9-meter (29-foot) tsunamis hit Crete.

In the 1990s, the Santorini volcano was designated one of 16 volcanoes around the world that need to monitored because of past massive eruptions and proximity to dense population areas.