{"id":235942,"date":"2025-02-10T20:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T20:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/10\/nonstop-quakes-leave-a-tourist-island-empty-and-its-residents-on-edge\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T20:02:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T20:02:06","slug":"nonstop-quakes-leave-a-tourist-island-empty-and-its-residents-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/10\/nonstop-quakes-leave-a-tourist-island-empty-and-its-residents-on-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonstop Quakes Leave a Tourist Island Empty and Its Residents on Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10greece-quake-01-qvwt\/10greece-quake-01-qvwt-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Nonstop Quakes Leave a Tourist Island Empty and Its Residents on Edge\" title=\"Nonstop Quakes Leave a Tourist Island Empty and Its Residents on Edge\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">February is a slow time on the Greek island of Santorini, which draws more than three million visitors annually.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But after another week of near-constant earthquakes, the island has taken on an unusual quiet. At least 13,000 of the island\u2019s 15,500 residents, unnerved by the frequent shaking, have left in the past week. The streets are mostly deserted, except for the occasional tourists, most of them from Asia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Thousands of tremors, sometimes every few minutes, have jolted Santorini, about 150 miles southeast of Athens, and nearby islands since Jan. 25. The shaking peaked with a magnitude-5.2 earthquake on Wednesday northeast of Santorini. A magnitude-5 quake was felt in Athens on Sunday night. Most of the tremors have been relatively small, but there have been 160 tremors with a magnitude over 4 in the first nine days of February, compared with 90 of that strength for all of last year, Vassilis Karastathis, director of the Institute of Geodynamics at the National Observatory of Athens, said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The outlook for Santorini, one of Greece\u2019s most popular islands, remains unclear. Experts said making a reliable prediction about what would come next with the shaking was impossible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are signs of stabilization, but we need to see a further drop in the frequency of the tremors to be sure,\u201d Mr. Karastathis said, adding that the quakes could continue for weeks. \u201cA lot of the seismic energy has been released, but we still can\u2019t rule out a large earthquake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The shaking has prompted the authorities to shut schools and bar large indoor gatherings. Emergency workers have been deployed to the island, and landing craft are on standby for possible evacuations. Some areas of Santorini have been cordoned off because of landslide fears, and sandbags have been set up next to seaside homes. Psychologists from the Hellenic Red Cross have counseled worried residents, and priests have held prayers for the quakes to stop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After a state of emergency was declared last Thursday to ensure that aid could be released quickly, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece said all possible action was being taken. \u201cWe\u2019re preparing for the worst while hoping for the best,\u201d he said during a visit to the island on Friday, urging residents to remain calm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many opted not to risk it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Giorgos Kalamatas, 37, who owns a business that organizes fireworks for weddings on Santorini, returned to his family home in Athens last Monday with his wife and their three young children. \u201cThe constant shaking was nerve-racking, and we were worried about the kids,\u201d Mr. Kalamatas, 37, said, adding that hoped to return next weekend. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to live with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Others said they had no choice but to stay. Renia Bledaki, a 52-year-old makeup artist whose clients are mostly American, British or Australian brides marrying on the island, last week sent her two teenage children to live at a relative\u2019s home in Athens. She stayed behind to look after her aunt and uncle, who are elderly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For several days, she and her husband spent the night huddled in blankets as they slept in their car. \u201cWe were in one car, and my aunt and uncle in another,\u201d Mrs. Bledaki said, adding that during bigger tremors, \u201cthe car was bouncing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Scientists have said that the fault line that is triggering the current quakes is different from the one that set off disastrous earthquakes of up to 7.7 magnitude in 1956, killing 53 people and causing widespread damage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The key question is whether the current tremors constitute a \u201cseismic swarm,\u201d a sequence of tremors without a distinct main earthquake, or whether they are a precursor to a larger temblor of a magnitude around 6, Mr. Karastathis said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A scientific committee said last week that the seismic activity was not linked to two volcanoes in the area and ruled out an eruption. On Monday, scientists retrieved underwater seismic monitors and installed new ones, hoping to gather more clues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Mrs. Bledaki, the endless questions are the biggest headache. \u201cWill we have a 6-level quake? Will our homes withstand it? Will the Columbo erupt?\u201d she asked, referring to a nearby submerged volcano. \u201cIt\u2019s like a science fiction movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many of those who have stayed on Santorini work in hotels, even though most are closed. Annual renovations are in limbo, after construction and repair work was banned during the quakes. \u201cOne employee was scared and left, and others aren\u2019t sure about returning in April,\u201d said Antonis Iliopoulos who owns three hotels on the island. He said he has yet to receive cancellations for spring bookings and saw the quakes as \u201cmore an annoyance than a danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The country\u2019s environment ministry halted construction in Santorini\u2019s caldera, the rim of an ancient volcano that gave the island its unique shape, last November for a year. The ministry cited concerns about overdevelopment and asked hotel operators to conduct risk assessments. The quakes have revived questions about the stability of many structures there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hotels in the cliff-side areas of Fira and Oia, popular with tourists for their spectacular views, could be most at risk from landslides, said Dimitrios Papanikolaou, a geology professor at the University of Athens, who said that foundations made of hardened lava and pumice stone would be \u201cflimsy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIn those areas, a stronger earthquake could cause sections of buildings like balconies and swimming pools to collapse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials discussed the same risks during a quake swarm in 2011, Mr. Papanikolaou added. \u201cThey talked about making buildings safer, but nothing happened,\u201d he said. \u201cNow they\u2019re talking about it again, but when the quakes stop, we\u2019ll probably forget about it, until it happens again in 10, 20, 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/10\/world\/europe\/greece-santorini-earthquakes.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February is a slow time on the Greek island of Santorini, which draws more than three million visitors annually. But after another week of near-constant earthquakes, the island has taken on an unusual quiet. At least 13,000 of the island\u2019s 15,500 residents, unnerved by the frequent shaking, have left in the past week. The streets [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10greece-quake-01-qvwt\/10greece-quake-01-qvwt-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1105,6794,172322,136,25,63628,129772,2744,180596,18908,170109],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235942"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235944,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235942\/revisions\/235944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}