The UK Foreign Office has updated its advice for Greece as the government there declared a state of emergency and thousands of people evacuated Santorini.
The island of Santorini, one of Greece’s most visited places, has seen hundreds of tremors in the last week and it is on alert for a major earthquake.
On Wednesday the island felt an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 on the richter scale which was it’s strongest yet. There are fears of landslide risks to part of the island.
On Thursday (Feb 6) two large tremors jolted the island, each exceeding a magnitude of 4.0. The Greek Government has declared a state of emergency until March 3. This allows emergency services to facilitate access to and mobilisation of resources to prepare.
It is estimated around 11,000 thousands of locals and tourists have since evacuated the island which is famed for it’s bright white buildings with striking blue roofs. In 2023, 3.4 million tourists visited Santorini.
Today the Foreign Office updated its advice to holidaymakers amid the ‘frequent’ earthquakes.
It said: “The area around the Cycladic islands of Santorini (Thira), Anafi, Ios and Amorgos, is currently experiencing frequent earthquakes which may continue for several weeks.
“The Greek authorities advised people in those areas not to attend large indoors gatherings, to avoid old or abandoned buildings and the ports of Amoudi, Armeni, Korfos and Old Port (Paleos Limenas) in the area of Fira and to choose safe routes when travelling, particularly in areas where the landslide risk is high.
“In case of a strong tremor, people should immediately depart coastal areas. If you are in the affected areas, you should keep up to date with and follow the advice of local authorities and emergency services.”
The quakes have not caused injury or damage. In 2011 there was seismic activity on Santorini which went on for 14 months, without causing any volcanic issues.