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The Santorini Time Bomb: Is the Volcano Waking Up? 🌋 What Tourists Aren’t Being Told
There is a sleeping giant under the white and blue idyll of Santorini, and of late it has been stirring.
Scientists have put down in their records some atypical seismic activity in the last few months in the vicinity of the Kolumbo submarine volcano, not far from the island’s shore. To a number of experts, the way the magma is behaving in the Aegean is an omen of an eruption in the making, one with the power to alter Santorini as we know it.
The Last Time This Happened…
One need only look back to 1600 BC and the Minoan eruption for an example of what can transpire. That cataclysm sent a huge tsunami across the water and erased whole settlements. There are those who would argue it was the stuff of the Atlantis myth, a lost world the sea took for itself. Is history in the process of repeating?
The Minoan event was by far the worst, but the volcanic system has thrown its tantrums before. A sampling of the more notable:
In 197 BC, eruptions from below gave rise to Palea Kameni. Then came 46-47 AD and the birth of Nea Kameni, which would be added to in time. The Kolumbo volcano made its presence felt in 1650 with toxic gases and the loss of dozens of lives. And between 1866 and 1950 there were several rounds of minor explosions and lava flows that left their mark on Nea Kameni.
For the most part the caldera has been quiet since, yet seismic instruments tell a different story: the volcano is very much alive. It is only a matter of when it will rouse itself again.
Experts Are Divided
You will find volcanologists who see no cause for alarm, while others are less sanguine, pointing to the tremors, heat and gas as red flags. The Greek Institute of Geodynamics is on top of the situation, though officials have not been forthcoming on the risks.
Tourists Have No Idea
Down at the cliffside tavernas, guests are sipping wine and making for the caldera without a thought to the odd rumbling underfoot. One might wonder if this is the calm before the storm.
What If It Blows?
A major event would mean ash in the air to ground flights, tsunamis for the neighbouring islands and the like. So is there reason for concern or is it all a false alarm?
Tell us what you think in the comments: would the warnings put you off a trip to Santorini?
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