Greece to build escape port on Santorini as quakes continue
ATHENS—Greece will soon set up an evacuation port on the island of Santorini to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits the popular tourist destination, a Greek minister said on Monday.
Civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias announced the port project as the government’s chief seismologist said that Santorini and nearby islands felt fewer quakes in recent days, but that the outlook for continued tremors in the coming weeks remains uncertain.
Santorini, a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea, has been shaken by tens of thousands of mild quakes since late January, forcing thousands of people to flee, and authorities to ban construction activity, and shut schools and nearby islands.
No major damage has been reported but scientists have said the seismic activity was unprecedented even in a quake-prone country like Greece and have not ruled out bigger tremors.
They have identified the main ferry port at the foot of a precipitous slope and other sites across Santorini as weak links, although they have not said they cannot be used in an emergency situation.
Kikilias said Greece would build an evacuation port for the safe docking of passenger ferries until a new port infrastructure was in place.
“Along with the new port in Santorini which is being prepared, there was a decision for setting up an escape port on the part of the island where passenger ferries would be able to dock in an emergency,” he said in an interview with Greek ANT1 television.
Tectonic plates
Although the tremors lessened over the weekend, local authorities extended emergency measures for a third week on Sunday and reiterated calls for people to stay away from coastal areas and steep hillsides prone to landslides.
“This story is not over,” Costas Papazachos, Greece’s chief scientist, and a spokesperson for the Santorini quakes told public broadcaster ERT.
“Both authorities and habitants should get used to a rather unpleasant situation for some time, it could be another two, three months.”
Santorini took its current shape following one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, around 1600 B.C.
Seismologists have said the latest seismic activity, the result of moving tectonic plates and magma, has pushed subsurface layers of the island upwards.
Papazachos told state-run ERT radio on Monday that “Hopefully, this particular sequence will surprise us in a positive way and resolve itself sooner rather than later,” he said.
A state of emergency has been declared on Santorini and the nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi after a swarm of undersea earthquakes this month—sometimes felt every few minutes—prompted thousands of residents and workers to move to the Greek mainland.
Schools on the islands remain closed for a third week, while security services have set up rescue teams and backup power generators as part of precautionary measures.
Magma affecting tremors
Papazachos said Santorini did not face danger from its dormant volcano, but noted that magma was affecting the tremors.
“The root cause of the activity is the interaction of tectonic and magmatic processes,” he said. “That does not mean that the molten material—the magma—will manage to break through 8 kilometers of crust and reach the surface, causing a new volcanic eruption.”
Scientists were developing a clearer picture after gathering data from multiple sensors, he said.
“We are monitoring not only seismographs but also numerous other systems that track ground deformation, gas emissions, and satellite data,” he said. “At this moment, I can honestly say we do not have a definitive forecast, as it is too early to assess the current slight deescalation of seismic activity. We have encountered many surprises.”
Earthquakes of up to magnitude 5.1 were recorded Monday in the undersea area bordered by the four islands under a state of emergency.
