Amateur recordings of seismic and volcanic activity on Santorini. Credit: @mazlum35 X.com
Strong earthquakes continue between Santorini and Amorgos, with Friday, February 7 registering another 5 on the Richter scale. Is ‘the Big One’ coming?
The earthquake was also felt as far away as Attica. According to the Geodynamic Institute, the tremor was recorded 21 kilometres southwest of Arkesini, Amorgos. The focal depth is estimated to be some 11.2 kilometres.
About ten minutes later, another new earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale was recorded, while a little before 9pm a 4.7 on the Richter scale was recorded in the same sea area.
Santorini volcanic activity keeps residents fearful of ‘big one’
The question being asked by the thousands who fled the islands for the mainland is, ‘When will we be able to return?’. Santorini residents are claiming, ‘We feel like refugees.’
The recent quakes have occurred much deeper into the Earth’s crust than others in recent history, begging the question of what is happening down there, and whether the quakes are going to continue, and whether the ‘big one’ is coming.
Formation of new volcano could be witnessed for first time in recorded history
Seismologist Costas Synolakis, in statements given to public television, said that all these seismic movements could signal an expansion of the volcanic complex on which the island is based. The professor of civil engineering at the University of Southern California and member of the Academy of Athens explained that the increase in fluids that is taking place under Santorini entails great geological changes.
‘If confirmed, we could be witnessing, for the first time in recorded history, the formation of a new volcano,’ explained Synolakis, who sent a message of calm to the population, remarking that it does not mean that ‘a crater will form tomorrow or in six months,’ but that ‘our descendants in ten thousand years will be able to see the peak of a new volcano.’
Synolakis warned that the seismic movements could culminate in a larger earthquake. Even so, he considers that the chances of a major tsunami occurring are pretty low.
‘If this process stops, the magma could remain latent for decades before triggering bigger activity,’ said the seismologist, who insisted on the importance of ‘preparing psychologically for all possibilities.’
Finally, Synolakis reported that the Santorini volcano usually produces small eruptions every 50 years and that, although a massive eruption does not seem likely to him, the area must be monitored and kept under close watch.
