Volcanic eruption and tsunami fears after Greek holiday hotspot hit by earthquakes

Santorini, 1 of the astir fashionable tourer destinations successful Greece, could soon beryllium swamped by volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

The land has been rattled by 6,400 insignificant and mean earthquakes this week, sometimes lone minutes betwixt each quake.

Greece’s government declared a authorities of exigency yesterday, with some 10,000 islanders fleeing from the near-constant tremors.

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook Santorini on Wednesday – the astir almighty recorded since seismographs began wobbling connected January 26.

The epicentres of the earthquakes are adjacent the underwater volcano Kolumbo astir 5 miles northeast of the island.

Officials person not linked the caller seismic enactment to Kolumbo oregon the dormant volcano wrong Santorini’s caldera, Nea Kameni.

But immoderate experts accidental that the tremors that person torn done the Aegean portion could beryllium due to the fact that Kolumbo is astir to blow.

The past clip Kolumbo experienced a large eruption was 1650, coughing retired ash seen arsenic acold distant arsenic Turkey. Pyroclastic flows – fast-moving, searingly blistery clouds of volcanic ash and gases – killed 70 people.

Tectonic plates – immense pieces made of the planet’s crust – propulsion apart, clang unneurotic and descent past each other, causing earthquakes.

Santorini is perched connected the tectonically progressive confederate Aegean Sea, meaning the existent quakes could beryllium caused by the plates chaffing, perchance irritating the volcanic strategy coursing astir the island.

Geology prof Avraam Zelilidis, of the University of Patras, suggested the swarm of quakes is owed to volcanic rumblings.

‘Because the seismic enactment has intensified and stabilised successful the past 4 days, it shows that the earthquakes are associated with the volcano,’ Zelilidis told SKAI, a Greek TV network.

Costas Synolakis, who studies earthy hazards astatine the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, said helium is ‘99% certain’ Kolumbo volition erupt.

‘Santorini has started ringing bells,’ helium said, informing if an eruption occurs, the volcano could illness into the oversea and propulsion retired tsunamis.

‘What I fearfulness is that erstwhile a tsunami hits, radical beryllium and movie with their cameras, alternatively of moving away,’ helium added to Live News.

While earthquakes tin hap with adjacent to nary warnings, volcanoes thin to enactment retired immoderate informing signs earlier they erupt. Magma elbows its mode done stone successful specified a mode that it causes distinctive types of quakes, deforming the onshore arsenic it ascends.

Magma – molten stone – is oozing successful a recently discovered enclosure beneath the Kolumbo volcano.

But Michele Paulatto, an precocious probe chap successful volcano geophysics, strikes a acold antithetic tone.

‘There has been immoderate flimsy summation successful enactment astatine Kolumbo volcano and Santorini volcano, capable to warrant adjacent inspection, but not capable to rise the volcanic alert level,’ helium told Forbes.

‘Earthquakes tin trigger eruptions, but I americium unaware of that happening astatine Kolumbo oregon Santorini. The earthquakes person mostly been distant from the volcanoes.’

Paulattoo added that if seismic enactment increases successful the days ahead, an eruption would beryllium much likely.

However, helium doesn’t expect the tremors to scope the strength of the 1956 Amorgos earthquake, which reached a magnitude of 7.7 and killed 53 people.

Nor volition an eruption connected Santorini beryllium arsenic almighty arsenic the 1 that, immoderate 3,500 years ago, formed the island’s multicoloured beaches and stone formations.

Civil extortion officials are monitoring Santorini’s volcanic enactment and said ‘it seems that determination is simply a mild seismovolcanic excitation’.

‘This is simply a improvement that the authorities has been informed about, has taken measures, it is simply a precise dilatory phenomenon, and we indispensable separate it from what is happening now,’ Costas Papazachos, prof of lithosphere physics, seismology and applied geophysics astatine the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, said.

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