A second Greek island within the Cyclades forming the Aegean archipelago has now been placed under a State of Emergency as continued seismic activity rocks the Aegean Sea, unleashing over 13,000 earthquakes since January 26th.
The island of Amorgòs is now joining its neighboring island of Santorini in declaring a State of Emergency after a series of magnitude 5+ earthquakes hit the region since Monday, causing quite a scare among residents and officials within the island chain that a much stronger earthquake was imminent.
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Officials Concerned After Epicenter of Latest Earthquakes Are Moving Toward Amorgòs
Since Monday, February 10th, both the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) recorded three strong 5.4 magnitude quakes, with the third 5.4 magnitude hitting the surrounding Dodecanese island chain in Greece in the early morning hours, local time, on Wednesday, February 12th.
Officials have grown concerned after the epicenter of the latest series of quakes progressively moved toward the island of Amorgòs, in addition to a series of strong tremors felt in the neighboring Cyclades islands of Ios and Anafi, prompting officials to raise the emergency declaration and deploy emergency personnel and resources to the island.
Seismologists continue to monitor the ongoing seismic swarm after data showed that the quakes are occurring on top of the fault lines, instead of beneath them as they normally would, as confirmed by British Geological Survey Seismologist, Margarita Segou.
The iconic island of Santorini has been rocked by the ongoing earthquake swarm since last month, with over
11,000 people
evacuating the island and a State of Emergency declared on Thursday, February 6th.
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As of Thursday, February 6th, the entire island of Santorini is now under a State of Emergency, which is in effect until March 1st
Officials and Businesses Fear That This Year’s Summer Tourist Season is Likely to Suffer
The Cyclades island chain, particularly the islands of Santorini and Amorgòs, are extremely popular tourist destinations and normally witness the arrival of cruise ships at their ports within the Aegean Sea as the Easter holiday draws near, many tourists taking their ‘spring breaks’ ahead of the heavily crowded summer season.
However, with so much uncertainty as to when the unprecedented earthquake swarm will end, or if a much stronger earthquake is looming on the horizon, tour agencies, cruise companies, and tourists are concerned about what lies ahead, with many opting to change their holiday plans in the Greek islands, and canceling their bookings and hotel reservations, putting the islands’ summer tourist season and economy at risk.
“In the past two days, we have seen a drop in bookings, but we hope this will be short-lived,” says Antonis Pagonis, president of Greece’s Association of Hoteliers.
And, it’s not just tourists and tour companies that have concerns about the ongoing earthquakes, so too, do seasonal staff workers who heavily rely upon the bustling summer tourist season, and millions of tourists that descend on the island chain to generate the income they normally receive, prompting them to take their skills to islands away from the earthquake swarm.
“It’s not that I’m afraid of earthquakes – Santorini always shakes,” says Manos, who has spent the past five summers working as a bartender on the island.
“I’m worried there won’t be enough tourists. If the season is weak, I might not make as much money, or they might not need me for the whole summer. I can’t take that risk.”
Accommodations are already witnessing a decline in bookings, which hoteliers state come in quite steadily ahead of the summer season to ensure room availability. While others, who close their businesses for winter are skeptical that they may not be able to open their doors to tourists for the spring and summer seasons unless the
seismic swarm
officially stops, and officials give the islands the all-clear for people to return.
With the island of Santorini designated as the Greek islands’ top tourist destination, officials are worried that unless the earth stops shaking every few minutes, there will be no summer tourist season this year; the tourism economy is destined to take a major hit, losing approximately $6 billion in revenue.
“It is our duty to protect it [Santorini], preserve its reputation, and ensure that 2025 is another excellent year for tourism,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday in an interview.