The Greek island of Santorini has been placed in a state of emergency after experiencing its strongest earthquake following days of continuous tremors.A magnitude 5.2 quake struck Santorini on Wednesday evening, the first to surpass 5.0 since tremors began last week. On Thursday, two larger tremors jolted the island, each exceeding a magnitude of 4.0.
Santorini’s last major earthquake, a magnitude 7.5 tremor in 1956, killed at least 53 people.
Here is what we know so far:
What is happening in Santorini?
The island, one of Greece’s Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, has been experiencing near-constant tremors since January 27, 2025, with thousands of earthquakes recorded so far.
The most powerful earthquake recorded since then – occurring on Wednesday evening – registered a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale.
Magnitude measures the size of an earthquake with increments represented by decimal points. An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or higher is classified as severe, while a magnitude of 5.2 is considered moderate. Advertisement
Santorini is situated along the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, which extends from the Peloponnese in southern Greece through the Cyclades islands. The region is also home to two volcanoes: Nea Kameni, a small islet within Santorini’s caldera, and Kolumbo, an underwater volcano located approximately eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of the island.
The Santorini-Amorgos earthquake swarm just keeps going. It has now produced over 1,000 individual events since it began on January 27. pic.twitter.com/KQwxEj0Vbb
— Nahel …