The Greek government declared a state of emergency on Santorini on Thursday due to a series of earthquakes, some with magnitudes reaching 5.2, that have been shaking the island for nearly two weeks, causing mass evacuations, according to EFE.
The state of emergency, announced by Civil Protection in a statement, will remain in effect until at least March 1 and is declared to respond quickly to urgent needs on the island, according to stiripesurse.
According to the News247 portal, the declaration of a state of emergency makes it possible to quickly build infrastructure to protect the stability of the island's volcanic caldera without public tender or other legal requirements in normal situations.
Professor Efthimis Lekkas, specializing in natural disaster management, warned on Wednesday of a "high risk" of landslides across the caldera, on the edge of which the island's capital, Fira, and one of its largest cities, Oia, are built.
In recent days, at least 11,000 people have left Santorini for fear of a major earthquake, leaving behind a few tourists and about 4,000 residents.
Santorini, which normally receives over three million tourists a year, officially has about 15,000 inhabitants, although it is estimated that another 10,000 people live on the island without being registered.
Over 6,400 earthquakes were recorded in the maritime area between Santorini and Amorgos between January 26 and February 3, of which about 800 had a magnitude greater than 2.5, according to the Seismology Laboratory of the University of Athens.
The earthquakes continued on Thursday. Dozens of earthquakes with magnitudes between 1.2 and 4.6 shake this region of the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea every 10 minutes or so.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has repeatedly urged islanders to "remain calm," will travel to Santorini on Friday, along with Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias, SKAI reported on Thursday.
Emergency teams on the island have been reinforced in recent hours.
A helicopter and four Coast Guard vessels, along with 21 boats, including tugboats, large fishing vessels and ferries, are on alert in the area.
Meanwhile, the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce (KEEE) on Thursday called on the government to "support Santorini residents economically and institutionally," estimating that the earthquakes will have a negative impact on the island's economy in the medium and long term, whose main engine is tourism.
Most seismologists and geologists argue that the risk of an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 6 is low, although they agree that the earthquakes will likely continue to shake the island for several weeks, perhaps even months.
This seismic activity is caused by the movement of tectonic plates and not by the two volcanoes in the area, although this does not mean that the tremors cannot reignite volcanic activity, according to experts.
Greece is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe as it is located at the intersection of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, whose constant interaction frequently gives rise to earthquakes.