Quake Surge Prompts State of Emergency on Greek Island of Santorini

People cross a police cordon as they evacuate their home in the village of Oia on Santorini island, Greece, 05 February 2025. EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU
People cross a police cordon as they evacuate their home in the village of Oia on Santorini island, Greece, 05 February 2025. EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU
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Quake Surge Prompts State of Emergency on Greek Island of Santorini

People cross a police cordon as they evacuate their home in the village of Oia on Santorini island, Greece, 05 February 2025. EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU
People cross a police cordon as they evacuate their home in the village of Oia on Santorini island, Greece, 05 February 2025. EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU

Greece’s government declared a state of emergency on Santorini on Thursday after hundreds of undersea earthquakes shook the resort island for nearly a week.
The ministry of civil protection’s announcement will provide authorities faster access to state resources. It follows a magnitude 5.2 tremor –- the most powerful recorded since activity started on Jan. 31 –- that struck late Wednesday.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis confirmed that multiple emergency services were already mobilized to support the island, The Associated Press reported.
“Fire departments, police, coast guard, armed forces, and emergency medical services have immediately reinforced Santorini and surrounding islands with additional personnel and specialized equipment,” he told reporters.
Despite causing minimal damage, the earthquake swarm has prompted an exodus of thousands of residents and seasonal workers, mostly evacuating to the Greek mainland by ferry.
Experts say the seismic activity is unrelated to volcanic activity in the Aegean Sea.



A NASA Spacecraft Will Make Another Close Pass of the Sun

This image made available by NASA shows an artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. (Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP, File)
This image made available by NASA shows an artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. (Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP, File)
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A NASA Spacecraft Will Make Another Close Pass of the Sun

This image made available by NASA shows an artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. (Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP, File)
This image made available by NASA shows an artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. (Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP, File)

A NASA spacecraft will make another close brush with the sun, the second of three planned encounters through the sizzling solar atmosphere.

The Parker Solar Probe made its record-breaking first pass within 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the scorching sun in December, flying closer than any object sent before.

Plans called for it to attempt that journey again on Saturday. Since the flyby happens out of communication range, the mission team won't hear back from Parker until Tuesday afternoon.

Parker is the fastest spacecraft built by humans, and is once again set to hit 430,000 mph (690,000 kph) at closest approach.

Launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun, Parker has since flown straight through its crownlike outer atmosphere, or corona.

Scientists hope the data from Parker will help them better understand why the sun’s outer atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic stream of charged particles constantly blasting away from the sun.