dpa
Athens
The hundreds of minor and moderate tremors to shake Santorini over the past 12 days have prompted more than a third of the island’s 16,000 residents to leave for the mainland out of fear a major earthquake could soon strike, Greek media reported on Tuesday.
According to the Athens Institute for Geodynamics, there have been around 550 moderate tremors with strengths between 3 and 4.9 in the last three days alone. The many smaller quakes in the region are uncounted.
Earthquakes of this magnitude are not unusual on Santorini - they normally occur about once a month, according to seismologists quoted by the daily newspaper Kathimerini. However, many houses are built directly on the steep edges of the island crater.
With an accumulation of many moderate quakes, they could eventually slip away, say the experts. Earthquakes of this intensity usually do not pose a danger to islanders, but the recent activity has put the popular tourist destination on high alert.
