Santorini rubble dogs & search drones on standby amid fears of brewing mega-quake & LOOTING on deserted holiday island

THE Greek land of Santorini is bracing for a large earthquake aft a bid of mini quakes sparking information and looting fears.

Earthquakes started implicit the play but severely accrued implicit the past 24 hours rattling the volcanic land each fewer minutes done the Tuesday nighttime and into Wednesday.

Now scientists are informing of the anticipation of a large earthquake successful the region hitting a magnitude of 6 aft the bid of mini quakes person continued to summation successful strength.

Temblors informing of a larger quake to travel are being reported each 10 minutes connected the land and could past for weeks.

Emergency rescue crews, drones, and sniffer dogs person been deployed successful mentation for a large quake with the largest tremors hitting 4.9 connected the Richter scale.

An exigency announcement was issued by the Interdisciplinary Committee for Risk and Crisis Management of the National University of Athens  connected Wednesday.

It declared that betwixt February 2 and 5, "seismicity successful the Santorini-Amorgos portion intensified adjacent more."

Data collected connected February 2 showed implicit 1,300 earthquakes took spot followed by much than 1,400 the pursuing day.

In full betwixt January 26 and February 3, determination were 6,400 recorded quakes between the volcanic island of Santorini and Amorgos.

The committee warned that the "number of earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 is gradually expanding per day."

Five were recorded connected Sunday, 7 connected Monday, and 9 connected Tuesday and continued recordings into the aboriginal hours of Wednesday with implicit 30 detected, the biggest being 4.4 successful magnitude.

It is imaginable that this enactment "stimulates the rupture of a important portion of a ample progressive responsibility successful the area, frankincense giving emergence to a main earthquake," they said.

Schools person closed and ferry and formation operators person ramped up services to depart the island.

Shocking footage shows fearfulness landslides, leaving down ample clouds of particulate conscionable on the borderline of Santorini's stunning, all-white landscape.

With astir 11,000 radical fleeing their homes aft the continuous rumbles and fearfulness landslides, officials are acrophobic astir criminals who whitethorn marque the astir of the opportunity.

Police person been enactment connected precocious alert and officials person accrued their patrols successful Fira, the island's superior portion besides enforcing roadblocks to effort and halt interruption ins and looting.

'EVERYONE IS WORRIED'

One section concern antheral told Proto Thema: "We are acrophobic that immoderate volition instrumentality vantage of the concern and commencement breaking into houses.

"We person already heard astir incidents."

Speaking of the days-long mini quakes, chap section Michalis Gerontakis said "everyone is worried."

He said: "I person ne'er felt thing similar this and with specified frequence - an earthquake each 10 oregon 20 minutes.

"Everyone is anxious adjacent if immoderate of america fell it not to origin panic, but everyone is worried."

Nadia Benomar a circuit usher from Morocco who has lived connected Santorini for 19 years rushed to bargain a ferry summons to fly to the adjacent land of Naxos.

She said: "We've had earthquakes earlier but ne'er thing similar this. This feels different."

Nadia joined hundreds of others astatine the island's main larboard connected Monday to drawback a ferry.

The Ministry of Shipping confirmed that betwixt Sunday and Tuesday implicit 9,500 radical fled by oversea alone.

Those who person stayed down person been alerted connected their phones to the dangers of the quakes and falling rubble with galore areas adjacent cliffs being closed disconnected arsenic a information measure.

Citizens and tourists person been advised to debar abandoned buildings, take harmless question routes and debar places astatine hazard of landslides, and go alert of designated refuge areas.

They person besides been told to determination distant from coastal regions if beardown vibrations are detected.

Santorini is not the lone land astatine hazard of a monolithic earthquake with adjacent islands Amorgos, Anafi and Ios besides connected precocious alert aft implicit 200 undersea tremors were recorded implicit the past 3 days.

Speaking from Brussels, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: "We person a precise aggravated geological improvement to handle.

"I privation to inquire our islanders archetypal and foremost to stay calm, perceive to the instructions of the Civil Protection Authority."

The Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias urged citizens precocious connected Sunday to "strictly adhere to information recommendations to minimise risk".

Santorini sits successful the mediate of the Aegean Sea Plate and adjacent to an progressive volcanic arc that runs between Greece and Turkey across the Aegean.