Santorini faces a countdown to checking out whether the subsequent earthquake might be ‘the massive one’.
The following 12 to 24 hours are expected to find out whether the Greek island’s relentless earthquakes will fade – or construct toward something much more dangerous.
Overnight, earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.2 and 4.6 rattled the region, part of what’s often known as the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, raising fears of a tsunami or perhaps a volcanic eruption.
The quake swarms have seen 1000’s evacuated and a state of emergency declared.
Security and health risk services company, International SOS, has been monitoring the seismic activity, preparing for whatever could come next.
Adam Lakhani, security director, told Metro that Santorini has been shaking under the force of greater than individual 200 tremors within the few days.
‘Earthquakes are incredibly difficult to predict,’ he said. ‘All the knowledge that we’re seeing on the minute – whether we’re firstly of seismic activity or end – indicates that we’re very much in the center.
‘In the subsequent 12 to 24 hours, we should always see a sign as as to whether the numbers are rising or declining.’
Meanwhile, ferries and business airlines have added flights and ships to their schedules to accommodate the increased demand.
Mr Lakhani said International SOS clients was alerted on Tuesday after an increase in tremors.
Up to now no requests for evacuations have been made to the corporate, which may coordinate such operations.
He added: ‘Now we have been following the situation very closely and pulling data from the Institute of Geodynamics in Athens and the US Geological Survey.
‘Up to now there have been no casualties or damage. The evacuations we now have seen within the news have bee very precautionary.
‘Thankfully, it’s low season, so we do not need numerous tourists on the island.
‘Numerous emergency services have also been redeployed to the island again as preparation in case of a bigger quake.’
International SOS has been relaying information from the Greek disaster warning system to its clients and sharing the locations of the closest shelters.
Greece lies in a highly seismically lively area and low-level earthquakes are frequent.
Nevertheless it is incredibly rare for any a part of the country to experience such an intense barrage of shakes.
Predicting them isn’t scientifically possible, and experts cannot actually determine whether the seismic activity between the islands of Santorini and Amorgos is a precursor to a significantly larger earthquake, or is a component of weeks or months of small or moderate intensity ones.
Mr Lakhani said: ‘These earthquakes are usually not unprecedented. It’s a seismic area. However the infrastructure is built with that in mind.
‘Buildings have been built with the knowledge. The destruction from an earthquake is not going to be just like what we are saying in Turkey and Syria two years ago.’
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Hundreds of tourists flee Santorini on ferries in mass exodus after quake swarm
MORE: Where is hot in April? Top 17 sunny destinations for an Easter holiday
MORE: Warning to Santorini tourists after increased seismic activity on Greek island
