Santorini has been struck with another large earthquake while swarms continue to roll through the Greek island.
The earthquake was initially reported as a 5.3-magnitude by local media, who said it was the strongest of hundreds of vibrations.
It was relegated to a 5.2 in the following hours.
The earthquake took place at 10.16 pm local time on Monday and had an epicenter 14 km southwest of Arkesini, in the sea between Santorini and Amorgos, reports the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
Vasilis Karastathis, director of the Geodynamic Institute, said the newspaper that this earthquake 5.3 measured on the Richter scale.
But he warned that it was not a 'big earthquake' and 'is no different than earlier strong earthquakes of 5, 5.1 or 5.2 on the Richter scale', because more tremors are recorded on Santorini.
A state of emergency was explained last week after the Greek island had experienced thousands of earthquakes that increased in strength and frequency.
Eleven quakes with a size of at least four was only felt on Saturday and since then dozens more have been reported.
Experts and members of the army investigate the seismic activity on Nea Kameni, uninhabited Greek island of volcanic origin located in the Aegean Sea, in the flooded Santorini Caldera in Greece on February 10, 2025
A state of emergency was explained last week after the Greek island had experienced thousands of earthquakes that have increased in strength and frequency
Since 1 February, more than 800 vibrations with a size of three and higher have been registered, with experts who say that a 'quake storm' hit the island.
The rather considered as the strongest earthquake to touch the island, 5.2, took place last Wednesday and was even felt in Athens, Crete and parts of Turkey.
Greece is on several error lines and is one of the most sensitive countries in Europe.
More than 11,000 locals and holidaymakers have evacuated the island, planned with extra flights.
The state of emergency will remain in place until 3 March. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced £ 2.5 million financing for an emergency vacancy route from the south of the island to be built.
“We are preparing for the worst while we hope for the best,” he told the locals during his visit to the island on Friday.
The local population is encouraged to stay away from ports and to prevent you from gathering indoors, because emergency staff – including the army, the fire brigade and the police – are deployed on the island.
More than 11,000 people have now fled Santorini while the island is grabbed by the ruthless earthquakes, where Tremors are now registered from minute to minute.
Many who stayed on the island sleep on the street with their mattresses, too scared to stay in their homes in case they collapse.
Other residents have built improvised Tsunami defenses with sandbags along the beach of Monolithos, where buildings are dangerously close to the water.
Residents and tourists are scrambling to leave the Greek island on ferries and planes because of continuous seismic activities in Santorini
Firefighters walk in the almost evacuated village of Fira in Santorini, Greece, 6 February 2025
Hotel owners were even asked to dispose of their swimming pools because of ensuring that overflowing water buildings could destabilize in a quake.
So far, however, no victims or major damage have been reported.
Seismologists say that the earthquakes are the result of tectonic plate movements, not a volcanic activity, despite the fact that Santorini is on the Hellenian volcanic arch – a chain of islands formed by old eruptions.
Experts have warned that the island is confronted with a 'seismic crisis' without a clear end in sight, so that the fear of a larger, more destructive earthquake is evoked in the coming days.
