The Greek island of Santorini has suffered its strongest earthquake yet, after thousands of tremors since January.
Scientists are monitoring the situation amid concerns there could be a volcanic eruption.
CGTN’s Evangelo Sipsas report
Scientists are monitoring the situation amid concerns there could be a volcanic eruption.
CGTN’s Evangelo Sipsas report
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00:00Santorini is no stranger to shaking ground, but this time it's different.
00:05On Monday, scientists, experts and even military personnel gathered at the island's port,
00:11bringing out some serious high-tech equipment to keep an eye on Santorini's volcano.
00:16And even the pros are admitting, this level of activity is something they haven't seen before.
00:22I haven't experienced something like this before.
00:26But in the last, I think, 25 years, there were two previous events
00:33with increased earthquake activity here at Santorini and around Santorini.
00:39However, this event is larger than what was experienced before.
00:43The problem? This is a phenomenon unlike anything they've dealt with before.
00:49And even with all the latest tools and sensors,
00:52figuring out exactly what's going on and how long it might last is going to take time.
00:58We can say for sure that we cannot say anything for sure.
01:03I mean, yes, as scientists, it's always very difficult to rule out scenarios.
01:11We have a limited database and we are getting more and more data,
01:15and our ideas are getting better with time.
01:19And, yeah, so right now we actually need to wait and see how the situation develops.
01:26This phenomenon is so unusual that scientists are divided,
01:29with some convinced the tremors have nothing to do with the nearby submarine volcano Colombo.
01:35But don't breathe too easy just yet.
01:38The one thing they do agree is that they are in uncharted waters,
01:42making it impossible to say for certain what will happen next.
01:46All the seismic activity that has occurred during these days
01:50has nothing to do with Nea Kameni and submarine volcano Colombo.
01:54But this is a very unique geological phenomenon,
01:57so we need to analyze and to have in our hands all the data,
02:01seismic data, geophysical data, geodetic data, gravity data,
02:05in order to make a synthesis of all the data and to understand this phenomenon.
02:11Scientists are tracking every rubble, every shift,
02:14but there's no crystal ball for what's going to happen next or when.
02:19Santorini's volcano has a history of surprises,
02:22and while experts are hoping this is just another restless phase,
02:26there's always the chance Mother Nature is gearing up for something bigger.
02:31Evangelos Tsipsas for CGTN, from the island of Santorini.