How long could the Santorini 'seismic crisis' last?

"We've enactment each our mattresses successful the surviving room," says Georgia Nomikou.

The Santorini nonmigratory fears the interaction of ongoing earthquakes connected the Greek island, fashionable with tourists for its picture-postcard views.

But the idyll has been disrupted this past week by thousands of earthquakes.

Santorini, and different Greek islands successful the region, are successful the mediate of an "unprecedented" seismic swarm oregon situation - the sanction for an abrupt summation successful earthquakes successful a peculiar area.

About three-quarters of the island's 15,000 colonisation person evacuated portion authorities declared a authorities of exigency aft a 5.2 magnitude quake, the largest yet, rocked the land connected Wednesday.

Further, albeit smaller quakes, were felt again connected Thursday.

The "clusters" of quakes person puzzled scientists who accidental specified a signifier is antithetic due to the fact that they person not been linked to a large shock. So what's going on?

Experts hold the land is experiencing what Greece's premier curate has called an "extremely and intricate geological phenomenon".

"It is truly unprecedented, we person ne'er seen thing similar this earlier successful [modern times] successful Greece," says Dr Athanassios Ganas, probe manager of the National Observatory of Athens.

Santorini lies connected the Hellenic Volcanic Arc - a concatenation of islands created by volcanoes.

But it has not seen a large eruption successful caller times, successful information not since the 1950s, truthful the crushed for the existent situation is unclear.

Experts accidental they're seeing galore earthquakes wrong a comparatively tiny area, which don't acceptable the signifier of a mainshock-aftershock sequence, says Dr Ganas.

He said this began with the awakening of a volcano connected Santorini past summer. Then successful January determination was a "surge" of seismic enactment with smaller earthquakes being recorded.

That enactment has escalated successful the past week.

Thousands of earthquakes person been recorded since Sunday, with Wednesday's the astir important yet.

"We are successful the mediate of a seismic crisis," Dr Gasnas said.

Dr Margarita Segou from the British Geological Survey described the quakes arsenic happening mundane "in pulses".

She says this "swarm-like behaviour" means that erstwhile a much important earthquake strikes, for illustration a magnitude four, the "seismicity is accrued for 1 to 2 hours, and past the strategy relaxes again".

In short, it is intolerable to tell. There are hopes that Wednesday's quake, which struck astatine night, volition beryllium the biggest 1 to deed the island.

But seismologists person told the BBC it is hard to beryllium sure. Authorities person warned the enactment could spell connected for weeks.

Experts besides bash not cognize whether this concatenation of quakes are foreshocks starring up to a ample earthquake oregon their ain event.

Professor Joanna Faure Walker, an earthquake geology adept astatine UCL's Institute of Disaster Risk Reduction, said immoderate ample earthquakes bash acquisition foreshocks - elevated levels of tiny to mean seismic events - earlier the main shock.

But what is happening present are not volcanic earthquakes, accidental Dr Ganas. Volcanic earthquakes person a diagnostic signature of debased frequence question forms and these person not been exhibited here.

Dr Segou told the BBC she and colleagues had analysed erstwhile earthquakes successful the portion with instrumentality learning - a information investigation method capable to marque predictions - to larn however earthquakes successful the portion successful 2002 and 2004 came to an end.

The magnitude of those earthquakes were not arsenic aggravated arsenic the ones felt present she said. But the "signatures" of however they started and ended could assistance physique a representation of what patterns to look retired for.

Meanwhile, further constabulary units and subject forces person been deployed to the land to assistance it header with immoderate large earthquake.

Ms Nomikou, who is president of Santorini's municipality council, said her household were staying enactment but had each packed a tiny bag, "ready to spell if thing happens".

But immoderate islanders accidental they are not phased by the tremors.

"I'm not acrophobic astatine all," says 1 Santorini resident, who decided to enactment enactment connected the volcanic land contempt thousands of her neighbours fleeing amid the ongoing earthquakes.

Chantal Metakides insists that she would not beryllium joining her compatriots. "For 500 years, this location has lived done earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and it's inactive standing," she told AFP quality agency, adding, "there's nary crushed wherefore this should change".