Earthquakes in the Cyclades: Five vibrations over 3.4 Richter within 40 minutes – “There is the scenario for 6 Richter”

In the rhythm of Richters they continue to “dance” , Anafi, Amorgos and the surrounding islands of Cyclades. The are continuous and from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning (05.02.2020) have not exceeded 4.3 Richter. The inhabitants of Santorini and the other islands of Cyclades cannot rest from the successive earthquakes. Every 5 to 10 minutes, the earth shakes. Characteristics are the data recorded by the Geodynamic Institute. CORVERSE As shown in the photo, from 10:24 to 11:00 Wednesday morning, that is, within less than 40 minutes, there were 5 earthquakes over 3.4 Richter and up to 3.7 Richter. At noon, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will participate in the extraordinary meeting of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection that will study all data on earthquakes that hammer the Cyclades in recent days. CORVERSE Santorini, at the heart of most earthquakes, now seems abandoned. Residents and tourists gradually began leaving the island in the last few days, in order to guard against a possible major earthquake. With a few luggage in hand, sorodon arrive at the port of Piraeus until the phenomenon is resolved at their place. So far over 12,000 citizens have left Santorini either by ships or by planes. Meanwhile, medical and cliques of EMAK, firefighters and seismologists, arrive on the island, on the one hand to monitor the phenomenon, on the other hand to be ready in the event of a larger earthquake. After all, most Greek seismologists monitoring the phenomenon do not rule out the possibility of an earthquake greater than 6 Richter. ‘The Amorgos fault has not been activated’ The two main scenarios examined by earthquake experts in the Cyclades revealed on Wednesday morning (05.02.2025), Euthymios Lekkas in ERT. The first, considered more favourable, according to Euthymios Lekkas, predicts that seismic activity in the Cyclades will culminate with an earthquake of 5.5 Richter, but without causing damage. “In this case, the situation will gradually deescalate”. The second scenario, considered more extreme, predicts an earthquake of 6 to 6.2 Richter. “If that happens, we will surely have some consequences, so all the necessary operational measures have been taken,” the president of the OASP stressed in his morning statements, on the “Congresses”. Regarding the faults that have been activated in the area, the president clarified that the vibrations were not caused by the Amorgos fault that gave the 7.5 Richter earthquake in 1956. “This breach takes thousands of years to refill energy. It has only 70 years since the previous earthquake, so it cannot be activated,” he said. For the seismic activity of the last days that has marked an alarm in Santorini and the surrounding islands, Efthymios Lekkas stated that despite variations in sizes and focal depths, it remains at high levels. “The initial assessment of the Seismic Risk Assessment Committee was that seismic activity (e.g. in the Cyclades) will be particularly intense, and this continues to be the case despite the fluctuations it presents. Overall, activity remains at high levels.” “We see a swarm, that is, a series of earthquakes with magnitudes up to 5 Richter, that can last days or weeks,” he said and added that we still don’t know how nature works and especially how it works under the sea that we have no direct contact with. “There are dozens of faults between Amorgos and Santorini and they are gradually activated one fault after another,” added the president of the Anti-Seism Design and Protection Agency. The professor assured that the state apparatus is fully prepared for any possibility. “We operate on the basis of the extreme scenario , which has little chance of manifesting. However, for the first time we are prepared at every level, with all stakeholders alert.” About when the earthquakes will cease, Euthymios Lekkas made it clear that there is no “no point”. “ Earthquake activity can continue for days or weeks. In Arkalochori, for example, the discharge process lasted over a year,” he said at the end. “We see relative stabilisation of the phenomenon” Optimist appeared the director of the Geodynamic Institute, Vassilis Karastasis, on the morning of Wednesday (05.02.2025) for the earthquakes that hammer Santorini and the rest of Santorini. “Seismicity maintains the rhythms of previous days. We have noticed some relative stabilization in the pace,” Vassilis Karastasis initially said on the show “Today” about the phenomenon that has hit Santorini. As he explained, since 1 February, over 440 earthquakes over 3 Richter and 73 earthquakes over 4 Richter have been observed. “ There is the good scenario for earthquakes, that of the smeasur, ” he said, setting an example of 256 earthquakes that shook Ethiopia for over 6 months. The Smino series in Ethiopia began in September and ended in February, with the most intense months being the last two. “In this time, we had two earthquakes that exceeded the size of 5 Richter, it was 5.2 and a 5.7 Richter,” he explained. “The interest in Ethiopia’s case was also that this sequence was near two volcanoes,” the director of the Geodynamic Institute completed. Within 2 days, according to him, the new seismographs placed in Santorini are expected to give more reliable data on the nature of the phenomenon. “We will have a clear picture in 1 to 2 days that will have more reliable data than the new stations we placed. I think it’s not a small chance to go with the potential script of the smeasur,” he explained initially. “This situation may last weeks or even a month,” he continued, recommending attention and calm. As for whether he would stay in Santorini in the midst of so many earthquakes, he said: “I might have stayed in Santorini because the distances from the epicenters are at a good distance from the island”. ‘No concern about volcanic activity’ “We cannot rule out the possibility of a stronger earthquake of the order of 6 Richter in the Cyclades,” Kostas Papazachos made it clear on Wednesday morning (05.02.20205). On the development of the “rich” seismic activity that has prevailed in the last 24 hours in the Cyclades, Professor of Geophysics and Seismology, Kostas Papazachos, spoke on the show “Congresses”. “At this moment the sequence is clearly directed upon the rift of Andros , that is to say a fault which passes over the island of Anhydros and which has a length of 15 km. It seems that several pieces of this fault have been broken, but there is one area left, which has not yet been broken, so we cannot based on the evidence we have in our hands and uncertainties, rule out the possibility of a stronger earthquake of the order of 6 Richter. So a scenario of a strong earthquake, which is the worst scenario, remains in force for Santorini,” he said initially. For the rareness of the phenomenon, Kostas Papazachos made it clear that he has never seen anything like it in his professional course. “The truth is I’ve never seen anything like this in recent years. It is a very curious, intense sequence from the relatively rare in the Greek space.” Whether a possible earthquake 6 Richter, could trigger the volcano of Santorini, the professor explained that volcanic activity can cause earthquakes but the opposite is not the case. “There is no such element especially for Greek volcanoes. To remind you, there have been huge earthquakes in the area. There has been the Amorgos earthquake in 1956, the largest surface earthquake throughout Europe in the 20th century, which must have lasted according to models around 20 to 30 seconds without any effect, with very large movements, a very large number of underwater landslides and tsunamis without any effect. There is no connection of major earthquakes that have been made and cause volcanic activity. There is a connection that volcanic activity in extreme manifestations has in it earthquakes, but not the reverse.” About when the seismic activity in the Cyclades will fade, Kostas Papazachos said that the phenomenon will last weeks and if a greater vibration occurs, then it can also fade after months. “Extremely unlikely that the situation will change significantly over the next two to three weeks, especially if there is a strong earthquake, we will go in many weeks and months. These sequences unfortunately have their own lives and live a considerable time. It’s a lasting phenomenon. So Santorini will search and find rhythms to live and work alongside this seismic activity.”