The earthquake is not stopping to leave an empty tourist island and its residents on the edge of the abyss

February is a slow time on the Greek island of Santorini, which attracts more than three million visitors annually.

But after another week of semi -fixed earthquakes, the island took an extraordinary calm. At least 13,000 Al -Jazeera residents of 15,500, who left frequent shaking last week. Mostly deserted in the streets, except for cross tourists, most of them are from Asia.

Thousands of tremors, sometimes every few minutes, carried out Santorini, about 150 miles southeast of Athens, and the nearby islands since January 25. It reached the peak with an earthquake of 55 years on Wednesday, northeast of Santorini. The earthquake was felt 5 in Athens on Sunday night. Most of the tremors were relatively small, but there were 160 tremors that reached 4 in the first nine days of February, compared to 90 of this force throughout the past year, Vasilis Karastathis, director of the Geological Dynamics Institute in the National Observatory of Athens, on Monday.

The view of Santorini, one of the most popular Greek islands, is still unclear. Experts said that conducting reliable predictions about what would happen with shaking was impossible.

“There are signs of stability, but we need to see an additional decrease in the frequency of tremors to confirm,” said Mr. Carastateh, adding that earthquakes may last for weeks. “A lot of seismic power has been launched, but we are still unable to exclude a large earthquake.”

The shaking of the authorities pushed schools and banned large internal gatherings. Emergency workers were published on the island, and the landing mode is prepared for a possible evacuation. Some Santorini areas were cordoned off due to ground collapse fears, and sand bags were created next to homes on the beach. The psychologists of the Red Cross have advised the anxious population, and the priests carried prayers in order to stop.

After announcing the state of emergency last Thursday to ensure the release of aid quickly, Prime Minister Kiriacos Mitsotakis from Greece said that all possible measures are taken. He said during a visit to the island on Friday: “We are preparing for the worst hope for the best.”

Many chose not to risk it.

Gi -Ji -Kalamas, 37, who owns a company that regulates fireworks for wedding parties in Santorini, returned to his family’s home in Athens last Monday with his wife and three young children. “We will have to live with it.” “We will have to live with it.”

Others said they have no choice but to stay. Reina Blaidaki, a 52 -year -old make -up artist, mostly American, British, or Australian brides on the island, last week sent two teenagers to live in a relative home in Athens. She remained behind her to care for her aunt and uncle, both of them.

For several days, she and her husband spent the night in the blankets sleeping in their car. Mrs. Blidaki said: “We were in one car, and my aunt and aunt in another,” said Ms. Blidaki.

Scientists said that the rift line that leads to current earthquakes is different from the line that started catastrophic earthquakes of 7.7 in 1956, killing 53 people and causing widespread damage.

Mr. Karakathath said that the main question is whether the current tremors constitute a “seismic swarm”, a series of tremors without a distinct major earthquake, or whether it is about three larger by about 6 years.

A scientific committee said last week that seismic activity was not linked to a volcano in the region and excluded a revolution. On Monday, scientists regained new underwater seismic screens, hoping to collect more clues.

For Mrs. Blaidaki, endless questions are the biggest headache. “Will we have a 6 -level earthquake? Will our homes meet that? Will the colon erupt?” I asked, referring to an immersed volcano near. “It is like a science fiction movie.”

Many of those who stayed in Santorini working in hotels, although most of them are closed. The annual renovations of forgetfulness, after prohibiting construction and repair work during earthquakes. “One of the employees was afraid and left, and others were not sure to return in April,” said Anthony, Iliopoulos, who owns three hotels on the island. He said he had not yet received the cancellation of spring reservations and saw earthquakes “more disturbing than danger.”

The Ministry of Environment in the country arrested Caldira in Santorini last November for a year, noting concerns about excessive development, and he asked hotel operators to make risk assessments. Earthquakes have revived questions about the stability of many structures there.

Dimitrius Papanicolao, a professor of geology at the University of Athens, said hotels in the side areas of Fira and OIA, which are popular with tourists for their amazing opinions, may be more at risk than landslides, said Dimitrius Papanicolao, a professor of geology at the University of Athens. The pumice stone will be “weak”.

He said: “In these areas, a stronger earthquake can cause sections of buildings such as balconies and swimming pools to collapse.”

Officials discussed the same risks during an earthquake in 2011, and Mr. Babanicolao added. “They talked about making the buildings safer, but nothing happened,” he said. “They are now talking about it again, but when the earthquakes stop, we are likely to forget that, until it happens again in 10, 20 or 30 years.”