A lone man walks the deserted streets of Fira on the island of Santorini, Tuesday. Thousands of residents have left, rattled by hundreds of earthquakes, up to magnitude 5, that have been shaking Santorini and nearby Cycladic islands since Friday. Although experts say the tremors have nothing to do with the island’s volcano, rumors persist. A few hardy groups of tourists were still roaming the island. [AP]
More than 10,000 people had left the island of Santorini by late Tuesday, rattled by a never-ending series of earthquakes.
Not all of them were residents: A small number were visitors. Permanent residents, according to the latest census, number 15,231, so a good percentage have chosen to leave than live with the incessant tremors. From Saturday until Tuesday afternoon, more than 50 tremors of at least magnitude 4 have been recorded, with hundreds more between 3 and 4.
“I lasted a week. I can’t anymore. I can’t sleep and my legs are trembling,” a local resident waiting in line to take a ferry said.
“It’s not because of the earthquake that I’m leaving; I’m going to Athens for some medical tests,” an old woman said. But, then, she added, “You know, this is worse than 1956,” when a 7.7-magnitude quake struck the nearby island of Amorgos. “I lived through that. We were really shaken twice and that was it. Now, you get more scared by the day, you expect the cliff to fall any time now,” she said, looking up. Steep cliffs are a feature of Amorgos, Santorini and other islands in the area. There have been some rockfalls, but no major damage so far.
That magnitude 7.7 quake, on July 9, 1956, had been followed, 13 minutes later, by a 7.2-magnitude one. Together, they triggered a tsunami that peaked at 30 meters and 53 people were killed. The first one was the strongest 20th century tremor in Greece, a place used to strong earthquakes. Locals were saying the timing of the earthquakes was, despite everything, fortunate and wonder what would have happened if the tremors had occurred in the summer, at the peak of the tourist season. An estimated 3.4 million visitors cram onto the island annually, making it one of the most famous travel destinations.
Experts are doing their best to reassure people the tremors have nothing to do with the island’s famous volcano, which lies underwater and which, around 1600 BC, produced one of the most violent eruptions ever witnessed by humans. A second volcano erupted nearby in 1650.