Santorini shaken by more earthquakes as uncertainty grows

Several more earthquakes have hit waters around the Greek island of Santorini only a few hours after the authorities there declared an emergency state.

The tourist access point has been shaken by days of seismic activity with thousands of earthquakes recorded since last Friday.

On Thursday night, there was an earthquake of magnitude 4.6 at 20:16 local time (18:00 GMT) in the sea between Santorini and another island, Amorgos, followed by an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 approximately two hours later.

Most residents, more than 11,000 people, have already abandoned the island, since earthquakes are recorded at a minute by minute interval.

Experts have warned that it is not clear when this period of “seismic crisis” could end.

The earthquakes on Thursday have not been as severe as the magnitude 5.2 clash that occurred on Wednesday in waters between the two Greek islands.

So far no important damage has been reported on the island, but the authorities are preparing in case a larger earthquake arrives.

The magnitude refers to the size of an earthquake, with marked increases as decimal points.

A 6.0 and superior magnitude is considered severe, where as magnitude 5.2, the strongest experienced so far in the region is considered moderate.