The Greek Government said it is preparing for ‘any eventuality’ on the island of Santorini, which has been rocked by a series of earthquakes for more than a week.
A state of emergency has been declared, which is due to last at least until 3 March.
Meanwhile, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, pictured above, is expected to visit the island today in ‘a show of solidarity’ to those who have remained.
Thousands have fled the island in recent days on a combination of rescue flights and ferries to Athens, and shops, restaurants and other businesses have closed.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said Greece’s ‘entire state mechanism has been mobilised’ to prepare for ‘any eventuality’ on the island.
Trucks carrying generators have arrived on ferries, along with social workers and psychologists.
A mobile operations centre has already been established on Santorini and fire fighters and rescue crews with special dogs have also been sent to the island.
Santorini has been shaken by hundreds of tremors since 26 January, the strongest of 5.2 was recorded on Wednesday evening.
Vassilis K Karastathis, seismologist and Director of Research at the National Observatory of Athens, told local media: “We are not yet in a position to say that we are seeing any evidence that would lead to the sequence slowly coming to a conclusion.
“We are still in the middle of the road, we haven’t seen any easing, any sign that it’s heading towards a regression.”
