More than 21,500 quakes have shaken the Greek archipelago of the Cyclades in the last three weeks, an unprecedented wave in this volcanic area of the Aegean Sea that has caused the flight of thousands of visitors and residents of the tourist island of Santorini.

Between January 26, when the high seismic activity began, and this Monday, February 17, more than 21,500 earthquakes have been recorded in the maritime area between Santorini and the nearby island of Amorgos, according to a report just published by the Seismology Laboratory of the University of Athens (EKPA).

Of these tremors, about 18,600 were of a magnitude greater than 1, while last Monday alone there were more than 780 earthquakes.

Although dozens of earthquakes continue to shake the Cyclades daily, during the last few days “a consistently lower seismicity” has been observed than last week, both with regard to the strength of the tremors and their frequency, according to the report.

Last Tuesday, 95 earthquakes were recorded, of which three were of a magnitude greater than 4, while during the previous weeks dozens of tremors of this force occurred daily.

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However, the thousands of people who left Santorini after the first trearms still do not decide to return to the island, where about 4,000 residents remain, less than a fifth of the fixed population of 25,000 people.

The phenomenon has caused concern among locals and the Government, also due to the negative impact it could have on the economy of the island, one of the most tourist destinations in Greece.

The Government has decided to create in cooperation with the Armed Forces “an escape port” in a safe place in Santorini, where passenger ships can dock in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, schools remain closed for the third consecutive week on this island and in those of Amorgos, Ios and Ánafe.

A committee of experts is examining the creation of restricted access locations throughout the Santorini volcanic caldera, reports the portal protothema.gr.

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For its part, the Government has already announced that works will be carried out in certain points of Santorini to ensure the stability of the volcanic caldera, on the edge of which two of the most touristy towns on the island are built, which is visited by about three million tourists each year, most in summer.

The professor of Natural Disaster Management, Efthimis Lekkas, reiterated this Tuesday during a meeting with the head of Civil Protection on the island that the most likely scenario is that there will be “a progressive de-escalation of the phenomenon”, which could however last weeks, perhaps months.

However, the expert did not rule out the possibility of a magnitude 6 earthquake, or slightly larger, that could cause building collapses in the boiler, he said.

Regarding the two volcanoes that exist in the area (Nea Kameni in front of the Santorini caldera and Kolumbo further east), Lekkas stressed that no volcanic eruption is expected in the near future.

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