The Greek government has declared an emergency amid ongoing undersea quakes near the island of Santorini. (Reuters: Alkis Konstantinidis)
In short:
A state of emergency has been declared on the Greek island of Santorini following days of earthquakes.
A 5.2 magnitude tremor was detected between the Greek islands of Santorini and Amorgos on Wednesday night, local time.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis says emergency services have been mobilised to support the island.
Greece's government has declared a state of emergency in the tourist hotspot of Santorini, as undersea earthquakes continue to shake the resort island.
At least 11,000 people have fled the island in the past week, amid concerns of landslips and stronger quakes.
The declaration follows a magnitude 5.2 tremor — the most powerful recorded since activity started on on January 31 — that struck late on Wednesday.
That was followed by a further seven successive tremors registering above magnitude 4 which shook the region early on Thursday morning local time.
The country's leading authority on earthquake analysis, the Athens Geodynamic Institute, said it had recorded over 6,000 tremors off the Greek coast since January 26.
"The intensity is falling but has not yet stabilised," the institute's research director Athanassios Ganas told state TV channel ERT.
Thousands of people have evacuated from Santorini via ferry, as shaking continues. (Reuters: Alkis Konstantinidis)
The ministry of civil protection's emergency declaration will provide authorities faster access to state resources.
"The whole state mechanism has been activated … so that we are ready for any possibility with the hope that things will get better and the phenomenon will decrease in intensity," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.
Seismic activity unprecedented
Santorini is best known for its seaside towns with buildings painted white and blue. Scores of tourists visit the island during the summer season.
The 2021 census puts Santorini's permanent population at 15,000, so it is likely that a few thousand remain on the island, given that it is off-season.
Government officials and seismologists who met on Wednesday to assess the situation pointed to a high risk of landslides, including near the island's main port Athinios.
Experts say the region has not experienced seismic activity on this scale since records began in 1964.
"The most likely scenario is for the seismic activity to continue for certain days or weeks at the same intensity," the head of Greece's earthquake planning and protection authority, Efthymios Lekkas, told Proto Programma radio.
Santorini lies atop a volcano which last erupted in 1950, but an experts' committee on Monday said the current tremors were "not linked to volcanic activity".
No injuries or damage have been reported.
Rescue teams have been sent to the area as a precaution, and additional seismic sensors have been deployed.
AP/AFP/Reuters
