The state is taking precautions and preparing for every eventuality but "not because we believe or someone has said...that something catastrophic is going to happen," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed on Friday, addressing local agencies during his visit to the island of Santorini, following the intense seismic activity there in recent days.
The prime minister also summarised the briefing given by scientists about the phenomenon, while noting that none of the scenarios envisage a repeat of events like the very destructive earthquake on Amorgos in 1956.
"There is an activity in Nea Kammeni, [which is] not unusual for Santorini and is not something, the scientists tell us, that appears to present any immediate, particular danger.
There is the steady activity of the underwater volcano of Kolumbo, which we are also observing and studying. This geological event is also not unknown. And we do indeed have very intense seismic, tectonic activity, this earthquake swarm sequence which you have felt in the past few days with great intensity.
It is this that gives us cause for concern and this is why the state mechanism has been fully mobilised. Not because we believe or someone has told us - because I must also say this - that something catastrophic will happen but because we must be ready for every eventuality," the prime minister said.
The scientists have presented their views on what the worst-case scenarios could possibly be and explained these things in a simple manner, Mitsotakis said, adding: "We hope that this sequence will resolve itself without causing some larger earthquake.
In any case..., our scientists say that there is no scenario that there will again be something equivalent to what happened, for example, in 1956 in Amorgos. Again, I am very carefully passing on what the scientists have told us.
We must, however, be ready. Therefore, what you are seeing here is a state that is acting pre-emptively, because this is what I feel we are obliged to do. And we are proving that a country which has a history of earthquake activity also has the experience to deal with such phenomena," the prime minister said.
"We must in our public communication strike a balance between the need to be present and to take precautions, without at the same time reproducing disastrous scenarios that could frighten some visitors," he added.
He pointed out that there was already an initial funding of three million euros to create gateways of escape: "We will move via the national defence ministry, for the maximum possible speed, so that an escape gateway can be set up in the south section of the island, which will be able to cover us in any emergency scenario," Mitsotakis said.
He added that studies were now being funded for the new main harbour of Santorini in Monolithos. "This is a matter which we have discussed many times but obviously this is a long-term plan that will need time to be completed," he added.
Ακολουθήστε το Business Daily στο Google news
