‘We don’t believe the volcano will erupt’: Quake-hit tourism island of Santorini prepares for a different summer

A tourist approaches blue-domed Orthodox churches in the town of Oia on the earthquake-struck island of Santorini, Greece, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

In recent times, the main problem facing Greece’s picturesque island of Santorini has been the crowds of tourists jostling for space among the whitewashed walls of Oia town as they hunt for the best spot for sunset selfies.

Then, earlier this year, another problem reared its head — one that has been lurking deep beneath Santorini millions of years before camera phones turned it into an Instagram playground.

Between January 26 and February 22, more than 20,000 minor earthquakes of magnitude 1 or higher were recorded off the Mediterranean island, according to the Interdisciplinary Committee for Risk and Crisis Management at the University of Athens. One registered 5.3 on the Richter scale.

Local families with young children and seasonal employees evacuated from the volcanic island after a state of emergency that also affected the nearby islands of Anafi, Amorgos and Ios. Construction work was halted, and the island’s quiet season got quieter.

Sitting on the caldera of an ancient volcano, Santorini owes its very existence — and much of its phenomenal beauty — to seismic forces, and recent events were a reminder of how closely it sits to geological fault lines.

The quakes have since died down and the emergency was lifted in early March. Evacuees have returned, schools have reopened and hotel construction resumed.

Now as summer edges closer, when the island’s hotels are typically filled to capacity and the arrival of ferries and cruise ships see crowds throng its narrow streets, Santorini is bracing to see how the quakes will affect its peak tourism season.

‘Rebounding quickly’

Santorini resident and rental car and villa management business owner Filaretos Dimoglou said his family remained on the island during the active seismic period.

“Many workers who come to the island in winter left because building construction halted. They left because they had no work,” he said. “You realize everything is fine if the schools are open. If something goes wrong somewhere, the first thing the state does is close schools, for instance, in heavy snow or fires.” A father of two, he said he wouldn’t risk his children’s lives if he believed the situation was unsafe for them.

What is needed now, Dimoglou said, is a state-funded tourism promotion campaign to spread the word that Santorini is back in business.

Petros Zissimos, managing director of New York City-based Hellenic Holidays, said he had fielded questions about Santorini from clientele, however, he didn’t believe the situation was affecting bookings.

“People have held off on purchasing experiences in Santorini, like sightseeing, wine-tasting and sailing trips,” he said.

“Santorini needs to polish up its image again. Every business owner, restaurant, sailing company, cooking class operator, everyone has to make a contribution towards creating an environment that demonstrates that Santorini is fantastic again.”

Hoteliers on the island have responded to flagging demand for April and May, the first two months of the season, with attractive rates and greater booking flexibility.

Markos Chaidemenos, whose family owns five hotels in Santorini constituting the Canaves Collection, said they did not have cancellations. Bookings did, however, slow during the height of the seismic activity.

“For a long time, there was a lot of fake news… Obviously, people were holding off and not very confident in booking,” he said.

“Now that confidence is rebounding quickly, especially for a destination as beloved as Santorini, we’re seeing more bookings coming in. People want to travel to the island for the iconic sunsets, unforgettable experiences and world-class hospitality.”

He said Canaves Collection would permit cancellations even a week in advance and had made non-refundable bookings refundable for certain periods “as a precautionary measure, to show confidence.”

“If I was a traveller, I would want to be able to decide two or three weeks prior, or even last-minute, if I really want to go, based on the facts,” he said. “I can’t stress enough that everything is back to normal.”

Fewer people, more beauty

While yacht charters are not generally associated with flexibility, companies like Kensington Tours said they find solutions for their affluent clientele, where needed.

Edita Sgovio, vice-president of yachts and villas at the Toronto-based company, said she had not seen an impact on bookings.

“Consumer confidence, especially on the charter side, is quite high… Santorini is a bucket list destination. If you’re going to Greece, it’s one of those spots you want to see,” she said.

“We’re working with yacht captains and yacht owners. Should there be any impact when they’re traveling, of course, there is great flexibility to postpone or move dates around.”

Philip Dragoumis is a London-based wealth manager whose wife hails from Santorini. They own Serapias Suites, a small hotel named after a local orchid that sprouts from rocky earth, in the village of Exo Gonia.

His father-in-law, 98, and mother-in-law, 92, remained in their village Vothonas during the quake swarm, he said. “They were reasonably calm. We were more worried than they were.”

“It is probably a good time to book [a vacation] now. The prices have come down a bit, there is less demand, so there should be some better opportunities,” Dragoumis said.

“Anyone [in the tourism industry] who thinks it’s going to be a great year is deluding themselves. Still, these things tend to get forgotten,” he said. “You could see a late booking surge in April, May, June.”

Dragoumis said he believed Santorini might not be as busy as previous record-breaking years, which saw visitor figures swell to 3.4 million. “When there are fewer people, it’s a beautiful place to be,” he said.

‘No plans to cancel’

Diane Mick-Feldman and her husband Henry, both retirees, are excited about spending three nights in Santorini as part of a long-postponed maiden voyage to Greece. The last thing on their minds was the recent earthquake swarm that affected the country’s flagship destination, she said.

“I guess we’re typical New Yorkers. Henry said ‘why worry about that now? We’re going to be there in June,’” Mick-Feldman told CNN. “We haven’t given it much thought.”

Mick-Feldman said friends who recently returned from cruises that called on Santorini told them the destination was “a must-see island.”

Now it’s the centerpiece of their grand Greek vacation. Mick-Feldman noted that while they were concerned for the wellbeing of Santorini’s inhabitants, they understood seismic activity was “a geological event that happens there from time to time.”

“We heard many visitors and locals left the island because the tremors were significant and frightening,” she said. “We’re optimists. We thought that if anything catastrophic were to happen, it would happen sooner rather than later. Then we heard (the seismic activity) was lessening and people were returning.”

Mick-Feldman said they had not considered canceling their trip due to the quakes.

When asked about travel insurance, she said they had taken out comprehensive coverage. “Not just because of the tremors in Santorini but because we live in a world where there are viruses and things. We want to make sure we’re covered,” she said.

Safety plans in place

In a show of support for Santorini’s travel industry, Greece’s Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni met with local authorities and business representatives on March 17, where she conveyed a message of optimism.

“Santorini is one of the world’s leading tourist destinations. A land of unique beauty, rich cultural heritage and exceptional hospitality,” she said in an email to CNN.

Kefalogianni said, despite the quake activity of recent months, the island was gradually returning to normalcy. She said the state had responded with a plan, guaranteeing the safety of residents and visitors.

Scientific committees continued to closely monitor the situation and the required prevention and security measures had already been implemented, the minister said. “Infrastructure has been reinforced, civil protection plans have been updated and targeted action to support the tourism sector is being implemented,” she added.

“The messages from the global tourism market are encouraging, confirming Santorini remains a safe and well-organized destination, ready to welcome visitors from around the world.”

Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzis told CNN the quakes caused no damage but noted preventive works were underway to mitigate landslides in certain areas such as those seen on roadsides worldwide. He said he expected 2025 to be “a very good year for visitors as they should be able to move around the island a little easier.”

Students of geology and architecture were especially welcome, he said. “We’re interested in hosting visitors with specific areas of interest… Santorini is, after all, the result of great geophysical forces,” Zorzis said.

In February, AI-generated social media video posts depicting volcanic eruptions in Santorini surfaced on TikTok and X, frustrating people like oceanographer and geologist Evi Nomikou, whose roots lie in the island.

Speaking to CNN, she also reserved criticism for scientists who spoke about the seismic activity and the potential for a powerful quake without data to back up their claims, triggering concern among some locals.

‘A very active volcano’

When the quake sequence began, many believed Santorini’s undersea volcano Kolumbo would erupt, she said. Nomikou said she has been studying the volcano, situated 4.3 miles (seven kilometres) northeast of the island at a depth of 1,640 feet (500 metres), since 2001.

She explained that the seismic activity was tectonic — not volcanic — and originated from faults in the Anydros basin, where the volcano is located.

Nomikou said researchers had uncovered magma movement in the deepest part of the earth in this area. “Fluids shift the faults of Anydros that cause quakes,” she explained.

“We don’t believe the volcano will erupt, let me say that in capital letters. But this is a very active volcano that needs to be monitored.”

Locals felt reassured knowing scientists were there and continued to study Kolumbo and the Nea Kameni volcano, a popular visitor attraction on land, Nomikou noted. “We always keep the locals informed,” she said.

Following an early March visit to Santorini, renowned for its white Assyrtiko wine whose crisp acidity and mineral undertones reflect the land’s volcanic soil, Athens-based wine writer Eleni Kefalopoulou expressed a more romantic take on the seismic phenomenon.

“If it’s my time to go, I’d much rather it happen in Santorini, where I might be discovered thousands of years later, Pompeii-style, rather than be run over by a car in Athens,” she said.

Helen Iatrou, CNN