Santorini rocked by MORE earthquakes hours after holiday hotspot plunged into state of emergency as women and kids flee

SANTORINI has been rattled by yet more earthquakes, just hours after Greek authorities declared a state of emergency on the island.

The tourist hotspot has been in the grip of seismic turmoil, with thousands of tremors recorded since Sunday.

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Santorini has been rocked by even more earthquakes on Thursday[/caption]

On Thursday evening, a 4.6-magnitude quake struck the sea between Santorini and Amorgos at 8.16pm local time, followed by a 4.2-magnitude tremor roughly two hours later.

The latest shocks add to growing fears among residents, many of whom have fled.

More than 11,000 people have now left, with authorities tracking fresh quakes by the minute.

Those who remain have begun night patrols to guard against looting on the near-deserted island.

Seismologists remain unable to say when the crisis will end.

Dr Athanassios Ganas, research director of the National Observatory of Athens, told the BBC: “It is really unprecedented, we have never seen something like this before in [modern times] in Greece.

“We are in the middle of a seismic crisis.”

While Thursday’s quakes were weaker than Wednesday’s 5.2-magnitude shock, officials are bracing for worse.

Authorities have already warned of landslide risks, and nervous residents have built makeshift defences along Monolithos beach, fearing a tsunami.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, set to visit Santorini on Friday, has urged calm.

“All plans have been implemented. Forces have been moved to Santorini and the other islands, so that we are ready for any eventuality,” he said on Wednesday, calling for cooperation with authorities.

Santorini sits on the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, but experts have ruled out volcanic activity as the cause of the tremors, instead linking them to tectonic movements.

The state of emergency is set to last until at least March 3, but with seismologists still puzzled by the unusual quake clusters, no one knows how long Santorini will remain on edge.

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