More than 10,000 people have fled the island of Santorini by Tuesday evening due to an endless series of earthquakes. From Saturday to Tuesday afternoon, more than 50 aftershocks with a magnitude of at least 4 were registered on the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, and hundreds more with a magnitude of 3 to 4. According to the latest census, there are 15,231 permanent residents of Santorini, so a large percentage of them decided to leave rather than live with the incessant aftershocks.
This series of earthquakes is called a ‘seismic swarm’. It can last for weeks before eventually tapering off, Santorini’s mayor told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Cars queue to embark a ferry as people leave in the wake of recurring earthquakes on the Greek Island of Santorini on February 4, 2025. Fresh overnight tremors shook Greece’s top tourist island Santorini, media reports said, prompting people to sleep outdoors and others to leave by plane or ferry.
He paused during the conversation to smile as new tremors shook things on his desk.
‘This phenomenon can manifest itself in the form of small earthquakes or one, slightly stronger, followed by a gradual subsidence,’ Mayor Nikos Zorzos said, adding that he was cautiously optimistic after speaking to seismologists who described the swarm as a series of tremors of similar magnitude occurring in clusters.
Habitants of Santorini gather in the port of Athinios in order to flee the island after the recent seismic activity and the fears of a volcanic awakening or a larger scale earthquake. Santorini, Feb. 3, 2025.
Thousands of residents and seasonal workers have fled the Cyclades. Operators of ferries and commercial flights added services to cater for departures. More Greek islands closed schools the day before on Tuesday.
Santorini cancelled public events, restricted travel to the island and banned construction work in some areas. The aftershocks caused cracks in some old buildings, but there were no injuries.
Village of Oia on Santorini in the Cyclades, Greece, February 04, 2025. The island of Santorini, popular with travelers is located in a major seismic zone.
Source: The Gaze
