Santorini: Thousands flee Greek island amid quake warnings

Hundreds of people packed a port on the Greek island of Santorini in the early hours of Tuesday morning hoping to board a ferry to safety. 

More people were expected to fly out later on Tuesday as airlines set up special flights and shipping companies sent additional ferries. 

Hundreds of tremors have been recorded between the volcanic islands of Santorini and Amorgos in the Aegean Sea since Friday.

On Tuesday morning, regular quakes, just minutes apart, continued to rattle the region. 

Fears of big quake to come

Locals are fleeing Santorini and the neighboring islands of Anafi, Ios and Amorgos – all popular summer holiday spots — amid fears the tremors may be leading up to a larger earthquake. 

"I haven't slept for days, the children and the women are crying, it's shaking every five minutes," one man who left Santorini by ferry told Reuters news agency. 

Around a third of Santorini's 16,000 residents have temporarily left the island, according to DPA, a German news agency. 

"Everything is closed. No one works now. The whole island has emptied," Dori, an 18-year-old local resident told Reuters before boarding the ferry.

Authorities warn of rockslides, close schools

Authorities have sent rescue teams to Santorini and three nearby islands until Friday, as a precautionary measure. Authorities have also closed schools,

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki on Monday asked people to stay calm and follow instructions from authorities. People have been asked to avoid large indoor gatherings and keep out of coastal areas due to the risk of landslides. 

Hotels and houses have been told to empty their swimming pools as large volumes of water could destabilize buildings in the event of a large quake.

'No reason to panic'

The strongest quake so far reached a magnitude of 4.9 on the Richter scale on Monday afternoon. 

"We are monitoring the situation closely, but at this stage, there is no reason to panic," Efthymios Lekkas, the president of Greece's Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, told the Greek news site eKathimerini. 

"While these earthquakes are concerning, they do not yet indicate any imminent volcanic eruption or catastrophic event," he said.

Seismology expert Manolis Skordilis from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki called the intense seismic activity observed in Santorini "extremely serious," Greece's Amna news agency reported.

Especially, he said, as earthquakes measuring more than seven on the Richter scale triggered a tsunami and led to significant damage.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar