Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis remains in direct communication with the scientific experts monitoring the seismic activity in the sea area between Santorini and Amorgos. Yesterday afternoon, he joined a Zoom call with Professors Efthymios Lekkas and Kostas Papazachos, who had returned to Santorini after a brief morning trip to Athens.

In this context, and given the heightened alert of the state mechanism, a broad meeting will be held today at Civil Protection, chaired by the Prime Minister, to discuss the phenomenon’s evolution. Meanwhile, seismologists will be meeting from early morning to assess the latest seismic data from Santorini.

According to sources, apart from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vasilis Kikilias, the meeting will also include Professors Lekkas and Papazachos, as well as Kostas Synolakis and Evi Nomikou, who is conducting measurements on volcanic activity. At the same time, broader measures are expected to be announced, both regarding inspections in Santorini and the overall assessment of school and public service operations, as the current restriction measures are set to expire on Friday. In the meantime, the island is “emptying out” at a rapid pace.

The Worst-Case Scenario

A preliminary comprehensive review of the situation and the next steps was conducted yesterday during a broad Interministerial Committee meeting at Civil Protection, attended by the heads of the Armed Forces and Security Services, the Governor of the South Aegean region, and the mayors of the affected islands.

According to the analysis presented by Professors Lekkas and Papazachos, intense seismic activity is expected to continue for another 15 days to three weeks. The best hope expressed was that a large earthquake, between 5.5 and 6 Richter, would occur to relieve the seismic stress or that activity would gradually subside with smaller tremors around 3–3+ Richter. However, at this point, no one can predict how the phenomenon will unfold.