State of emergency declared on Santorini after 7,700 tremors

Greek civil protection authorities have declared a state of emergency on Santorini as natural disaster experts voice mounting fears over the “intense” seismic activity that has rattled the island, the Guardian reports.

The emergency measures were declared by the island’s town hall hours after seismologists recorded a 5.2-magnitude earthquake – the most powerful tremor to be felt on Santorini since the first of an estimated 7,700 temblors were registered last week.

The measures, under which the army is expected to take a more active role in crisis management, will be in effect until 3 March when the Christian Orthodox nation marks the beginning of Lent.

“It’s what we need to deal with this situation and we requested that it be enforced,” said Santorini’s mayor, Nikos Zorzos.

With experts speaking of a geological phenomenon that could last weeks, fatigued local people continued to leave the island, likening the exodus to “an unofficial mass evacuation”.

More than 12,000 people have fled by boat and plane since the tremors intensified at the weekend, with few tourists now believed to be on the island.

By Thursday Santorini’s main hilltop settlement – the biggest draw on an island that attracted 3.5 million tourists last year – resembled a ghost town, its shops shuttered and its narrow streets tapered off by police fearing more rock slides.