Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos on Monday said several thousand people had returned to the island since late last week, and called on government authorities to provide additional assistance in dealing with risks — including controlling rockfalls and the installation and repair of hillslope fencing.
Scientists from the University of Athens monitoring an earthquake swarm near the island of Santorini said Monday the phenomenon was in “gradual decline” nearly a month after the multiple tremors started.
“Seismic activity continues to show a gradual decline, both in terms of the daily number of recorded earthquakes and maximum magnitudes,” the Interdisciplinary Committee for Risk and Crisis Management at the University of Athens said.
The undersea shocks — sometimes recorded only minutes apart — led thousands of residents and workers to flee the famed cliff-top towns of Santorini as well as the nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi.
The multiple earthquakes, attributed to natural tectonic processes as well as magma movements below the seabed, have measured up to magnitude 5.3 but have caused only minor damage.
