ATHENS, Greece — 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 Greek island of Santorini is facing a crisis after a powerful 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday evening. This follows an alarming series of tremors, with experts recording over 6,000 quakes in the Aegean Sea since January 26.

Experts say the Greek island of Santorini has been hit by more than 1,000 earthquakes, but they're not linked to the region's active volcanoes.

Repeated earthquakes are rattling Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini. Scientists say the quakes aren't related to a slight increase in volcanic activity that has also been registered recently.

Greek officials are warning those on the popular tourist island destination of Santorini to stay alert in the coming days due to increasing seismic activity which could mean a strong earthquake is possible.

A series of earthquakes on Santorini has prompted thousands of people to leave the Greek tourist island since early 2025. Against this backdrop, some social media users were sharing old, out-of-context images and wrongly linking them to the tremors on the island.

Greece is preparing for any scenario but experts are optimistic about the tremors that triggered an exodus of residents and visitors from the Aegean Sea island of Santorini.