Greece earthquakes: Aftershocks hit Santorini and surrounding islands

Three more earthquakes have occurred near the Greek island of Santorini.

Residents of neighbouring Amorgos are remaining on high alert after Monday’s tremors, which followed a moderate 5.0 magnitude earthquake between the islands on Sunday evening.

The area has been rocked by seismic activity for the last two weeks, and experts have not ruled out a major earthquake.

A state of emergency will remain in place on Santorini until at least 3 March.

Sunday’s quake was preceded by three smaller ones of more than 4.0 magnitude, while the three on Monday morning were also more than 4.0.

Inspections found no damage to buildings in Santorini or Amorgos.

No injuries have been reported as a result of the earthquakes, which have numbered in the thousands since 26 January, but more than 11,000 people have left the islands.

Schools will remain closed on Santorini, Amorgos and several other islands on Monday and Tuesday.

A team of the Special Disaster Response Unit has set off for Amorgos from Patras with a special earthquake rescue vehicle, and technical teams are expected to inspect the electricity network on the island.

Kostas Papazachos, a professor of seismology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told broadcaster ERT that the authorities had to allow for the situation to continue for most or all of February.

“Let’s hope that we will slowly move towards a gradual de-escalation,” he said.

“We will have to be a little patient and see. Let’s hope that after a couple of weeks the phenomenon will start to subside.”

He said the possibility of a major earthquake had not been completely ruled out.

The strongest quake so far was a 5.2 magnitude on Thursday. 6.0 and above is considered severe.

Greece is one of Europe’s most earthquake-prone countries, but scientists are puzzled by the current “clusters” of quakes which have not been linked to a major shock.

Meanwhile the cruise ship Viking Star, with 893 passengers and 470 crew, docked at the port of Souda in Crete early on Monday morning.

It was due to be the first cruise ship of the season in Santorini. The ship changed its route mainly to avoid cable car overcrowding in Santorini during the seismic activity.