Santorini rocked by strongest earthquake yet after thousands evacuate holiday island

The Greek land of Santorini is recovering from the beardown earthquake arsenic the fashionable vacation destination continues to beryllium rocked by hundreds of tremors.

A quake measuring 5.3 connected the Richter standard struck precocious connected Monday evening with an epicentre 14km southwest of Arkesini successful the oversea betwixt Santorini and Amorgos, according to section media.

The earthquake was the strongest to deed the much-loved tourer destination since hundreds of smaller tremors started to beryllium felt connected the island, prompting thousands to evacuate.

Around 90 earthquakes struck connected Sunday, according to the Seismology Laboratory of the National University of Athens - with 14 quakes having a magnitude of 4 oregon higher connected the Richter scale.

Vasilis Karastathis, manager of the Geodynamic Institute, told the Greek paper Kathimerini that the latest ample earthquake "does not disagree substantially from erstwhile earthquakes and is portion of the series."

"It whitethorn beryllium 5.3, but it is nary antithetic from erstwhile beardown earthquakes of 5, 5.1 oregon 5.2 connected the Richter scale," helium pointed retired and stressed that " we are not talking astir a large earthquake."

Last week a authorities of exigency was declared successful Santorini allowing the land to entree other resources to tackle the issue.

Greek authorities spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said that aggregate exigency services had been mobilised to enactment the island.

The earthquake enactment has prompted an exodus of thousands of residents and seasonal workers, mostly evacuating to the Greek mainland by ferry.

At slightest 9,000 residents person near the land successful the past week amid fears astir the interaction of the quake activity, though galore person chosen to remain.

Experts accidental the seismic enactment is unrelated to volcanic enactment successful the Aegean Sea, but are inactive incapable to accidental whether the swarm could pb up to a much almighty earthquake.

School buildings were closed each of past week.

Greece is 1 of the astir earthquake-prone countries successful Europe arsenic it sits astatine the bound of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates whose changeless enactment prompts predominant quakes.

Santorini took its existent signifier pursuing 1 of the largest volcanic eruptions successful history, astir 1600 BC. The past eruption successful the country occurred successful 1950.