Lekas to Santorini: I would like a 5.2 magnitude earthquake to release the forces faster

Professor of Geology and Natural Disaster Management, Efthymios Lekkas, spoke about the ongoing seismic activity between Santorini and Amorgos.

“Mr. Kikilias has called us for a ministerial meeting to inform the ministers about the situation, and then I will return to Santorini. This morning at 4:40 a.m., we had an earthquake of 4.9 on the Richter scale. The night was relatively calm, but then we had an upward surge. We estimate that this surge will continue in the coming days. These earthquakes release the forces slowly and gradually. I would like an earthquake of 5.2-5.3 on the Richter scale to release the forces more quickly. With an earthquake of around 5.5 on the Richter scale, we estimate that there would be no impact on the island,” he initially said on MEGA TV.

He continued: “The scenario of 6 Richter or higher has a low probability. The residents of Santorini should feel safe. There should be no panic to leave. I’ve noticed that mainly foreigners who work here are leaving. These earthquakes occur at a depth of 15 kilometers. The depth at which an earthquake occurs is important to us. It matters because it helps us pinpoint the seismic fault, and that is crucial because we have a complex of faults, and the accurate calculation of the fault makes it easier for us to interpret.”

On the shifting of the earthquake’s focus and the volcano of Santorini: “The epicenter of the earthquake is shifting, moving towards the northeast towards Amorgos. This means it is moving away from Santorini, and that is good, but it is going towards Amorgos. Amorgos is not as vulnerable as Santorini. The effects of an earthquake would be smaller in Amorgos than in Santorini. This has nothing to do with the volcano. Not that there is no volcanic activity—it has existed for thousands of years. For the eruption of the Santorini volcano to happen again, we have calculated that it would need approximately 17,000 years. The volcano has erupted every 20,000 years over the last 200,000 years. There have been smaller activities, but they are very slow.”

Third raft of emergency measures due to seismic activity near Santorini – New earthquakes in Amorgos

The third package of emergency measures was approved by the municipality of Thera (Santorini) on Tuesday due to the earthquakes that continued to jolt the area. The decision issued on Monday by the deputy mayor for civil protection Iakovos Lignos specifically mentioned the following:

“We are updating the measures taken with Decisions No. 27/2025 and 28/2025 of the Deputy Mayor of Thera, to take preventive civil protection measures due to the current seismic activity in the area of Thera. Among the measures are the closing of all schools, the cancellation of all events and gatherings in indoor areas until Friday, 7 February. Preventing access to the areas of Ammoudi, Armeni, Korfos Thirasias and the old port of Fira. Additionally, the municipality informs the citizens to avoid going near abandoned buildings and to choose safe routes for their movements within the town and on the rural roads, especially in areas where landslides may occur and to immediately depart from beaches in case of a strong earthquake and remove dangerous non-structural elements in their buildings (heavy hanging objects, false ceilings etc).

The municipality has also advised the emptying of water from swimming pools, banned all construction work and forbidden access to the Athinio port except when ships are docking.

Meanwhile, two earthquakes measuring 4.8 and 4.7 on the Richter scale jolted the region on Tuesday at 08:09 and 08:53, whose epicentre was located 19km and 17 km, respectively, south-southwest of Arkesini on Amorgos. 

Source: pagenews.gr