Greece will set up an evacuation port on the island of Santorini to facilitate safe exits in the event of a more powerful earthquake, Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Monday.
Since late January, tens of thousands of small tremors have shaken the tourism favorite island, forcing thousands of people to leave, suspending construction, and causing school shutdowns on Santorini and surrounding islands. Although no substantial damage has occurred, seismologists say that the current activity is unprecedented even for earthquake-prone Greece. Specialists have not excluded the probability of stronger quakes.
Weaknesses in the main ferry port of Santorini, which is located at the foot of a hillside, have been pinpointed by authorities but not deemed to be unusable in an emergency. In order to provide more backup readiness, a temporary evacuation port will be built until permanent port facilities are established, according to Kikilias.
“In addition to the new port being built, it was decided to create an emergency escape port where ferries carrying passengers can moor in case of necessity,” Kikilias explained to Greek TV station ANT1.
Even as tremors subsided at the weekend, local authorities extended emergency restrictions for a third straight week on Sunday, asking residents and tourists to stay away from coastlines and cliffside landslides.
Seismologist Costas Papazachos, a spokesperson for the Santorini earthquakes, warned that the crisis is far from over. “Authorities and residents must prepare for an uncomfortable period that could last another two to three months,” he told public broadcaster ERT.
Santorini, shaped by a massive volcanic eruption around 1600 BC, is experiencing seismic shifts due to moving tectonic plates and underground magma, which have caused subsurface layers to rise, scientists say.
