The constant swarm of earthquakes rattling the touristy Greek island of Santorini and others in its vicinity in the Aegean Sea have not only continued but intensified as a 5.2 magnitude tremor struck Wednesday, the most intense so far since the swarm began late last week, CNN reports.
“The whole state mechanism has been activated and I want to urge our citizens to cooperate with the authorities,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after meeting with officials on Wednesday.
Santorini is one of several islands that were once part of a single mass that blew its top in a massive eruption tens of thousands of years ago, with the remainder still ringing an undersea caldera that continues to be active. However geologists say the current swarm is of seismic and not volcanic origin, though such swarms are typically associated with the movement of magma and a possible imminent eruption. Either way some 11,000 tourists have fled or been evacuated from the island.