Santorini

[pmccarthy]

There is every chance of a major eruption in the sea off the Greek island of Santorini. People wanting to evacuate cannot get flights or ferry rides. There are queues and some panic. It could be a big disaster. The eruption will not be Santorini itself, but an undersea volcano to the northeast.

[onetrack]

The scientists have stated the earthquakes are tectonic in origin, not volcanic. There's a major difference there. The scientists ARE concerned that there MAY be a major earthquake coming to the Santorini region, not a volcanic eruption.

[red750]

Nev will say this is a load of garbage because the Daily Mail is trash, and I am posting it, but here goes anyway.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14358411/Santorini-volcano-erupt-Scientists-warning-earthquake.html?ito=social-facebook

[pmccarthy]

These events are centred on the Kolumbo undersea volcano.

[nomadpete]

Thanks for the map. I had no idea where Santorini is.

 

So, is that where we should be searcfor the lost city of Atlantis?

[pmccarthy]

No, but it is thought to have wiped out the Minoans.

[onetrack]

Beautiful spot, spent nearly a week there roaming around and staying in different accommodations. But the bloody tourists are destroying it, especially when the place is full most of the time - and then two massive cruise ships rock up, one after the other, and discharge another 5,000 braying American tourists, all intent on jostling their way to the front.

 

The sunsets are spectacular, the caldera cliff is unbelievably steep and high (with the port at the bottom of the cliff), and no, we didn't ride the smelly donkeys up or down the cliff face, which is what all premium-grade tourists are supposed to do.

 

We took the ferries between the Greek Islands, they're virtually all West-Australian built ferries and they carry about 250 vehicles (including trucks) and multiple hundreds of passengers in great comfort and speed.

They back up to what are sometimes rudimentary wharfs, drop the rear ramp, unload vehicles rapidly on the ramp, and passengers on an adjoining walkway - and then they're raising the ramp and gunning it again, within about 20 mins, heading to another island.

 

Santorini is exactly as it appears in photos, none of them are retouched. But the whole region is Earthquake Central, even the Greek mainland get regular shakeups. We went to Kos and inspected the Asklepieion, an ancient healing centre and baths. It must have been stunning originally, but it was largely destroyed in a monstrous earthquake, in 554 A.D.

 

https://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/sightseeing/santorini-caldera/

 

Edited February 6 by onetrack

[facthunter]

I don't know many Greek words, uno?  Nev

[onetrack]

It's all Greek to me, but I do know a fair bit of the Greek alphabet - that came from science learning in high school. A lot of Greeks speak English, and it's amazing how many have close relatives in Australia, or even lived here!

We dropped into a nice little Greek cafe on the coast on Kos, and promptly found a Greek bloke who had spent all his formative years in Darwin! He'd returned to Kos to be close to, and look after, his aged parents.

[old man emu]

The claim  by the media that a volcanic eruption is imminent is clickbait. In the article Red posted above, a respected British volcanologist rejected the idea of an eruption. While the reports of earthquakes are reliable, they are caused by the collision between the tectonic plate under Africa and the Eurasian plate. The African plate's speed is estimated at 2.15 cm (0.85 in) per year. It has been moving over the past 100 million years or so in a general northeast direction. It is pushing closer to the Eurasian plate, causing subduction where oceanic crust is converging with continental crust.

 

It is true that there was a massive volcanic eruption at Santorini about 1600 BC. There have been more recent eruptions. These have been due to the build up of steam pressure as groundwater reaches the magma below. At present there are few indications that similar events are likely.

[onetrack]

The vulcanologists estimate that a major volcanic eruption happens at Santorini every 20,000 years. The last major eruption was the one that largely destroyed the Minoan civilisation in approximately 1600 B.C.

This means we've got to wait another 16,375 years to the next big eruption at Santorini. There was a minor volcanic eruption in 1950 and a number of other minor eruptions earlier in the 20th century.

None of them caused any substantial damage or disruption. These minor eruptions were all preceded by swarms of minor earthquakes.

 

https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/santorini/1950-eruption.html

[pmccarthy]

The events are not under Santorini, but beneath the undersea crater of Kolumbo. I would not be hanging around to see if it erupts.

[facthunter]

True but you fly in little Planes , and can slip in the bath too. Nev

[old man emu]

That whole northern coastline of the Mediterranean is the boundary between two plates. It's a pretty geologically active area.

 

We are talking about a volcano near Kolumbo, but we haven't mentioned Vesuvius, which blew up around 1800BC, nearly contemporaneously with Santorini and again in 1944, or Mount Etna which is pretty active. Then you have those earthquakes in Turkey. 

[red750]

And resultant tsunamis.

[old man emu]

9 minutes ago, red750 said:

And resultant tsunamis.

Santorini's eruption did create a massive tsunami. Some think that the tsunami was the source for the Noah story, but that story has its origins in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia. ("Mesopotamia" comes from the ancient Greek words mesos ("middle") and potamos ("river"). It literally translates to "land between the rivers". )

[red750]

Thank you professor.

[old man emu]

You keep pitchin' and I'll keep hittin'.

[facthunter]

Mein Gott im Himmel . even the Moderators are at each other.   Nev

[pmccarthy]

Moderator: a substance (such as graphite) used for slowing neutrons in a nuclear reactor.

[facthunter]

One meaning of it, but clearly not the one referred to. Nev

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

Mein Gott im Himmel . even the Moderators are at each other.   Nev

Nah, That was just cheeky banter. No offence detected.

[nomadpete]

32 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Nah, That was just cheeky banter. No offence detected.

Darn.

I'll have to try harder

[facthunter]

Give him a packet of (smile OFF your Face ) wipers.  Nev

[red750]

The island is being evacuated as quickly as possible. Tourists and residents getting out as fast as they can. Streets are deserted.