Contact | RSS | EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU

Moderate earthquake near undersea volcano beside Santorini, Greece. Should we worry?

mar., 20 avril 2021, 18:13 | AUTEUR : T
This morning's earthquake near Kolumbo volcano offshore Santorini
This morning's earthquake near Kolumbo volcano offshore Santorini
Seismic station on Thirasia recording the earthquake (big blue signal) and many smaller and larger fore-and aftershocks (image: National Observatory of Athens)
Seismic station on Thirasia recording the earthquake (big blue signal) and many smaller and larger fore-and aftershocks (image: National Observatory of Athens)
Recent earthquakes near Kolumbo volcano (image: facebook post by Gerasimos Papadopoulos)
Recent earthquakes near Kolumbo volcano (image: facebook post by Gerasimos Papadopoulos)
This morning, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake occurred 10 km northeast of Santorini Island. The quake hit at 11.21 am local time. It was felt by many people on Santorini, especially in the northern part of the island in the town of Oia, mostly as weak shaking that lasted a few seconds.
The quake was preceded and followed by a series of smaller fore- and aftershocks, with magnitudes of up to 3.4. During the past months, seismic activity in this area had been somewhat higher, but the most interesting aspect is likely that the quakes occurred very close at or directly under an active submarine volcano located 8 km northeast of Santorini island.
Called Kolumbo, it is considered the potentially most dangerous active volcano in Greece. This is first because of its underwater setting, it is capable of triggering tsunamis, and second, because it has the potential to produce large explosive eruptions. It did so during its only known historic eruption in 1650, which devastated Santorini and killed many people and thousands of livestock by toxic gasses. A large tsunami invaded the island's flat coasts, which back then were uninhabited, but now quite crowded with hotels and towns enjoying the location at Santorini's famous black-sand beaches.


So, the question asked is whether the current quakes might be a sign of the volcano becoming more active?
Since it is hidden under the water and only has had one eruption in historic times, Kolumbo is certainly the least known of the active volcanoes in the country, which makes interpreting the potential significance of such events more difficult.
According to a post by Gerasimos Papadopoulos, Research Director of Seismology at National Observatory of Athens, there is currently no sign that the volcano might be becoming restless, and remains in its normal dormant state.
While earthquakes like today's, directly under the volcano, can be caused by volcanic processes that eventually might precede a new eruption, they by no means are necessarily so and most of time are purely tectonic in nature, not affecting the state of the volcano.
In any case, its status merits close monitoring: a volcano getting restless close to popular Santorini island, one of Greece's main tourist attractions, would certainly not be good news, especially now that the country is preparing to open its tourist season in May.

Actualités précédentes

mar., 13 déc. 2011, 22:20

Volcan sous-marin Kolumbos (Santorin, Grèce): séisme de magnitude 3,2

Carte des séismes récents dessous de Santorin, en montrant l'événement 3,2 à Kolumbos volcan de Santorin NE
A 19h22 GMT (21h22 heure locale), un séisme de 3,2 survenu au sous-marin peu connu du volcan Kolumbos ca. 8 km NE de Santorin, l'île, en Grèce. Ceci marque l'un des plus grands événements de ces derniers mois. ... Read all
Kolumbo volcan
submarine volcano -18 m / -60 ft
Grèce, 36.52°N / 25.49°E
Condition actuelle: normal / en sommeil (1 sur 5) Eruptions du volcan Kolumbo:
1650
Style éruptif tipique
explosive
Découvrez notre app gratuite !
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
Android | Version iOS

Plus sur VolcanoDiscovery

Why is there advertising on this site?

Support us - Help us upgrade our services!

We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.
We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please make a donation (PayPal or Online credit card payment).

Planned features:Thanks to your past donations, these features have been added recently:
Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online:
Android | IOS
Thank you!
Copyright: VolcanoDiscovery ou autres sources indiquées.
Utilisation des documents: Les textes, les images et les vidéos de ce site internet sont protégées par copyright. Toute reproduction et tout usage sans accord préalable ne sont pas autorisés. Si vous désirez acquérir pour certains documents (photos, vidéos, textes ou autres) le droit de reproduction, d'édition et, plus généralement, de toute utilisation destinée à un usage public, qu'elle soit commerciale ou pas, vous êtes priés de nous contacter.
Volcanoes & Earthquakes
VolcanoDiscovery Home
Volcans | Séismes | Photos | Actualités | App
Adventure & Study Travel
Tours to Volcanoes and Volcanic Areas: walking tours, photo tours, study tours
Voyages |
Get our newsletter!
Company info
Contact | Mentions légales | Terms & conditions
Follow us
Follow us on facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Visit our Youtube channel
EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU
VolcanoDiscovery GmbH, Germany, Reg. nr.: HRB 103744, EU Tax Id: DE 297 465 123 owned and created by
Dr. Tom Pfeiffer, volcanologist, volcano photographer, tour organizer member of
IAVCEI
IAVCEI
Vulkanologische Gesellschaft
Volcanological Society
Ecotourism Greece
Ecotourism Greece
RUV insurance
Insured by R+V
VolcanoDiscovery © 2004- All Rights Reserved | Privacy - Changer Préférences