February is a slow period on the Greek island of Santorini, which attracts more than three million visitors every year.
But after another week of almost constant earthquakes, the island took on an unusual tranquility. At least 13,000 of the 15,500 residents of the island, nervous by the frequent trembling, started last week. The roads are mostly deserted, with the exception of occasional tourists, many of which from Asia.
Thousands of tremors, sometimes every few minutes, shook Santorini, about 150 miles south-east of Athens, and the islands near January 25. The shock initially reached the peak of an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 on Wednesday north-east of Santorini. On Sunday evening an earthquake of magnitude 5 was warned in Athens, and then a quike of 5.3 hit the same area on Monday at the end of Monday.
Most of the tremors have been relatively small, but there were 160 tremors with a magnitude over 4 in the first nine days of February, compared to 90 of that force for the whole last year, Vassilis Karastathis, director of the Institute of Geodynamics a The National Observatory of Athens said on Monday.
The prospects for Santorini, one of the most popular islands in Greece, remain unclear. The experts said that making a reliable prediction on what would come after with the agitation was impossible.
“There are signs of stabilization, but we must see a further drop in the frequency of tremors to be sure,” said Karastathis, adding that earthquakes could continue for weeks. “Most of the seismic energy has been released, but we cannot yet exclude a great earthquake.”
The agitation prompted the authorities to close schools and exclude great internal meetings. Emergency operators have been lined up on the island and landing boats are waiting for possible evacuations. Some areas of Santorini have been isolated due to the fears of the landslide and the sandban have been set up near the houses on the sea. The psychologists of the Hellenic Red Cross recommended the worried residents and the priests have kept prayers for earthquakes to stop.
After a state of emergency was declared last Thursday to ensure that aid could be released quickly, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece said that all possible actions have been taken. “We are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best,” he said during a visit to the island on Friday, exhorting the residents to remain calm.
Many have decided not to risk.
Giorgos Kalamatas, 37, who has an activity that organizes fireworks for weddings in Santorini, returned to his family home in Athens last Monday with his wife and their three young children. “The constant agitation was unnerving and we were worried about children,” said Mr. Kalamatas, 37 years old, adding that he hoped to return next weekend. “We will have to live together.”
Others said they had no choice but to stay. Renia Bledaki, a 52 -year -old make -up artist whose customers are mostly American, British or Australian brides who get married on the island, sent his two teenage children to live in the house of an Athens last week. He remained behind to take care of his aunt and his uncle, who are elderly.
For several days, she and her husband spent the night curled up in blankets as they slept in the car. “We were in a car and my aunt and my uncle in another,” said Mrs. Bledaki, adding that during the larger tremors, “the car was bouncing”.
Scientists said that the fault line that is triggering the current earthquakes is different from the one that triggered disastrous earthquakes up to 7.7 magnitude in 1956, killing 53 people and causing widespread damage.
The key question is if the current tremors constitute a “seismic swarm”, a sequence of tremors without a distinct main earthquake, or if they are a precursor of a templer larger than a size around 6, said Karastathis.
A scientific committee declared last week that seismic activity was not linked to two volcanoes in the area and excluded an eruption. On Monday, scientists recovered underwater seismic monitors and installed new ones, hoping to collect more clues.
For Mrs. Bledaki, infinite questions are the largest headache. “Will we have a 6 -level earthquake? Our houses resist it? Will Columbo emerge? “He asked, referring to a submerged volcano nearby.” It’s like a science fiction film. “
Many of those who have stayed in Santorini work in hotels, even if most are closed. The annual renovation works are in limbo, after the construction and repair works have been prohibited during earthquakes. “An employee was frightened and left, and others are not sure to return to April,” said Antonis Iliopoulos who owns three hotels on the island. He said he has not yet received cancellations for spring reservations and saw earthquakes as “plus a discomfort than a danger”.
The country’s Ministry of the Environment stopped the construction in the Caldera di Santorini, the edge of an ancient volcano that gave the island its unique form, last November for a year. The Ministry cited concerns regarding the excess of development and asked for hotel operators to conduct risk assessments. The earthquakes revived questions about the stability of many structures there.
The hotels in the areas on the side of the Fira and Oia cliff, popular among tourists for their spectacular opinions, could be more at risk of landslides, said Dimitrios Papanikolaou, professor of geology at the University of Athens, who said that the Bases made of hardened washing and Pumice Stone would be “fragile”.
“In those areas, a stronger earthquake could cause sections of buildings such as balconies and swimming pools,” he said.
The officials discussed the same risks during a swarm of earthquake in 2011, added Papanikolaou. “They talked about making the buildings safer, but nothing happened,” he said. “Now they talk about it again, but when earthquakes stop, we will probably forget, until it happens again between 10, 20, 30 years.”