A holiday island beloved by Brits and rocked by recent earthquakes is under threat from a huge explosion, as a volcano bubbles below.
Greek island Santorini is one of the world’s premier tourist destinations with daily arrivals via commercial flights and cruise ships carrying thousands of people. The island draws more than three million visitors annually to its whitewashed villages, built along dramatic cliffs formed by a massive volcanic eruption more than 3,500 years ago. However in recent times it has been hit by a series of heavy earthquakes, and a team of experts are now tracking an underwater volcano which could destroy the beautiful island.
Professor Isobel Yeo, from the National Oceanography Centre in Britain, told the BBC: “It’s a bit like ‘out of sight, out of mind’ in terms of understanding their danger, compared to more famous ones like Vesuvius. We know more about the surface of some planets than what’s down there
“We are trying to map the hydrothermal system. It’s not like making a map on land. We have to look inside the earth.
“Underwater volcanoes are capable of really big, really destructive eruptions,” she says. “We are lulled into a sense of false security if you’re used to small eruptions and the volcano acting safe.”
In February more than 6,000 residents fled the island, according to local media. Precautions were also ordered on several nearby Aegean Sea islands – all popular summer vacation destinations – after more than 200 undersea earthquakes were recorded in the area over the past three days.
Resident Michalis Gerontakis, who is also the director of the Santorini Philharmonic Orchestra, said at the time: “I have never felt anything like this and with such frequency – an earthquake every 10 or 20 minutes. Everyone is anxious even if some of us hide it not to cause panic, but everyone is worried… Everything is closed. No one works now.”
The Interdisciplinary Committee for Risk and Crisis Management at the University of Athens reported more than 20,000 earthquakes of magnitude one or higher between January 26 and February 22 this year. Authorities have decided a cable car on Santorini will not be operational for at least the next three months as the government continues to observe seismic activity.
Greek seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos cautioned that the current earthquake sequence between the islands of Santorini, Ios, Amorgos, and Anafi, could indicate a larger impending event. He said in a post: “All scenarios remain open. The number of tremors has increased, magnitudes have risen, and epicentres have shifted northeast. While these are tectonic quakes, not volcanic, the risk level has escalated.”
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