Thousands of residents flee from the Greek island of Santorini in the middle of a wave of seismic activity.
About 6,000 people have left the island by ferry since Sunday, according to local media, with emergency flights scheduled to leave Tuesday.
More than 300 earthquakes have been registered in the last 48 hours near the island – and some experts say shaking can continue for weeks. Authorities have closed schools throughout the week and warned against large indoor gatherings, but Prime Minister Kyriako’s Mitsotakis has called for calm.
Santorini is a popular tourist destination known for its whitewashed buildings, but most of those who leave are the locals as February is outside the highest tourist season.
Several tremors measuring up to the order of 4.7 were registered northeast of Santorini early on Tuesday.
Although no major damage has been reported so far, emergency measures are taken as a caution.
Hundreds of people stood in line in a port during the early hours of Tuesday morning to board a ferry leaving to the mainland.
“Everything is closed. No one is working now. The whole island has emptied,” an 18-year-old local resident told Reuters News Agency before boarding the ship.
In addition to 6,000 people who have left the island by ferry since Sunday, about 2,500 to 2,700 passengers will have flown from Santorini to Athens via flights on Monday and Tuesday, according to Aegean Airlines.
The airline said it had added three emergency flights to its schedule with space for hundreds of passengers at the request of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.
Santorini is a small island with a population of only 15,500. It welcomes millions of tourists every year.
Kosta’s Sakavaras, a travel guide that has lived on Santorini for 18 years, left the island with his wife and children on Monday.
“We considered it a better choice to come to the mainland as a caution,” he told BBC News.
“Nothing has fallen, or something similar,” he said, adding that the worst part had been the sound. “It’s the most scary part of it,” said Mr Sakavaras, who plans to return home when schools reopen again.
Schools are scheduled to remain closed on the island until Friday. Authorities have also warned people to avoid certain areas of the island and empty their swimming pools.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis said on Monday that Greece was working to control “a very intense geological phenomenon”.
Seismologists consider the recent tremors as smaller, but preventative measures have been introduced in the event of a larger earthquake.
Emergency Services has warned residents to leave the areas of Ammoudi, Armeni and the old port of Fira due to landslide.
The Southern Aegean Regional Fire Brigade has been placed on general alarm and rescue teams has been sent, with crews that are guarded by large yellow medical tents on the island.
Santorini is on what is known as the Hellenian volcanic arc – a chain of islands created by volcanoes – but the last major outbreak was in the 1950s.
Greek authorities said the recent shakes were related to tectonic plate movements instead of volcanic activity.