The Turkish government's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) held emergency inter-agency consultations and took a number of precautionary measures due to the risk of a tsunami in the Aegean Sea due to recent seismic activity there.
"As a result of the activity in the region, which took the form of a seismic storm, as of February 7, 2025, the number of earthquakes with a magnitude of over 3 reached 761. The earthquakes are intensifying about 25 km northeast of the island of Santorini. The earthquakes are concentrated in the area of the Colombo volcano, which has an underwater crater. The last known volcanic eruption in the region was in 1950. There is a small chance that the ongoing seismic activity in the region will lead to volcanic activity. “As a result of a possible eruption, there may be consequences in the form of fine-grained volcanic ash being transported from the volcano by wind or a tsunami that may reach our country”, AFAD said in a statement.
The directorate has reinforced its regional units in the provinces of Izmir, Aydin and Muğla, where “mobile teams have been sent to warn the local population in case of a possible tsunami or emergency”. Coordination has also been strengthened between AFAD's Ankara headquarters, its regional branches and seismological stations to notify the population as quickly as possible in case of danger. It was also stated that "scientific information exchange is taking place with universities and research institutes in Greece."
AFAD directorates in the provinces of Izmir, Aydin and Muğla were reinforced with personnel and equipment from units in the provinces of Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Sivas and Samsun. All AFAD units in the coastal regions of the Aegean Sea are "placed on constant alert". The General Directorate of Meteorology "prepares daily reports to analyze the distribution and direction of movement of volcanic gas and ash in the atmosphere in case of possible volcanic activity" in the region. From February 10, AFAD, together with experts from other departments, will hold consultations and coordination activities in the provinces of the Aegean coast.
The department noted that currently “the closest earthquake to the coast of Turkey occurred at a distance of 140 km“. “In 1956, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 occurred in the active Amorgos submarine fault, located northeast of the island of Santorini. In the same region, seismic activity of similar intensity to the current one was observed for 14 months in 2011-2012, but then it did not lead to volcanic activity“, AFAD recalled.
On February 6, the Greek Ministry of Climate Action and Civil Protection declared a state of emergency in Santorini due to the constant earthquakes that have been occurring there in recent weeks. The state of emergency remains in effect until March 1. According to the Greek television channel ERT-News, more than 7.7 thousand earthquakes have occurred in the area of the islands of Santorini and Amorgos in the Aegean Sea in 10 days. 108 tremors in recent days have had a magnitude of more than 4. On February 5, the strongest earthquake to date was recorded - with a magnitude of 5.2. There were no damages or casualties.