The Greek island of Santorini is recovering from the strong earthquake as the popular holiday destination continues to be rocked by hundreds of tremors. A quake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale struck late on Monday evening with an epicentre 14km southwest of Arkesini in the sea between Santorini and Amorgos, according to local media. The earthquake was the strongest to hit the much-loved tourist destination since hundreds of smaller tremors started to be felt on the island, prompting thousands to evacuate.
Around 90 earthquakes struck on Sunday, according to the Seismology Laboratory of the National University of Athens - with 14 quakes having a magnitude of four or higher on the Richter scale. Vasilis Karastathis, director of the Geodynamic Institute, told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini that the latest large earthquake "does not differ substantially from previous earthquakes and is part of the series.".
"It may be 5.3, but it is no different from previous strong earthquakes of 5, 5.1 or 5.2 on the Richter scale," he pointed out and stressed that " we are not talking about a major earthquake.". Last week a state of emergency was declared in Santorini allowing the island to access extra resources to tackle the issue. Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said that multiple emergency services had been mobilised to support the island.
The earthquake activity has prompted an exodus of thousands of residents and seasonal workers, mostly evacuating to the Greek mainland by ferry. At least 9,000 residents have left the island in the past week amid fears about the impact of the quake activity, although many have chosen to remain. Experts say the seismic activity is unrelated to volcanic activity in the Aegean Sea, but are still unable to say whether the swarm could lead up to a more powerful earthquake.
