Scientists issue volcano warning on Greek island loved by tourists

Scientists have detected increased volcanic activity within the caldera of Santorini, one of Greece’s top tourist islands. 

This has led the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry to meet with local officials and disaster response teams on Wednesday (January 29).

Monitoring sensors have picked up “mild seismic-volcanic activity”, echoing a similar event in 2011, which lasted 14 months without incident.

The island of Santorini and its Cycladic neighbours lie on the Hellenic Volcanic Arc – a geological formation spanning from southern Greece’s Peloponnese region – and scientists have reported increased activity along a central fault line in the northern section of Santorini’s caldera. 

Despite the activity being described as mild, authorities are taking precautionary measures due to the island’s huge popularity as a holiday destination. 

Over 3.4 million tourists are estimated to have flocked to Santorini in 2024, an increase on the previous year, solidifying its position as the most popular Greek island of the 227 inhabited islands. 

Its whitewashed houses, blue-domed churches and stunning sea and sunset views have continued to draw tens of thousands of visitors via cruise ships and ferries.  

In July, as many as 17,000 tourists from ships descended on the island in just one day, prompting local authorities to restrict the number of cruises that can dock daily. This year, a daily limit of 8,000 cruise ship passengers will be in effect. 

Santorini was also the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history, around 1620 BC, which destroyed a huge part of the island and gave Santorini its current crescent shape. 

The eruption was so large it is believed to have contributed to the decline of the ancient Minoans – Europe’s first major civilisation – that lived in the region at the time. It created a tsunami that devastated the island of Crete to the south and covered Santorini with ash and pumice. 

The last volcanic eruption in Santorini occurred in January 1950, which sent ash and fireballs as high as 1,000 metres into the air. This was followed by lava flows that created one of the youngest volcanic rock formations in Greece – Liatsikas lavas on Nea Kameni. 

“What we must realize is that the Santorini volcano produces very large explosions every 20,000 years,” explained Efthymios Lekkas, seismologist and head of the scientific monitoring committee for the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, according to Greece’s ERT television.

“It’s been 3,000 years since the last explosion, so we have a very long time ahead of us before we face a big explosion.”