As far as I know, there isn't any impending eruption here or in the neighborhood, but a serious seismic swarm -- NOT related to intracaldera events, per monitoring experts, reportedly -- is underway.
In that image, Santorini is at 7 o'clock and the dot in the middle of its flooded caldera is the Nea Kameni islands (lava domes).
Santorini, a Decade Volcano, is alleged by some researchers to have wrecked the Minoan civilization with a big blast back in the day (though there are other interpretations, too)..
It's a headline magnet, in other words, as well as a VERY popular travel destination, and also is in a very complex geological setting. It probably should have a thread just for background, though small eruptions are not impossible, too.
I can't sum it up here but did so back in 2023, and here's the update on that blog post just now:
More as things develop. For monitoring, I'm following ISMOSAV on Facebook (Greek) right now.
In that image, Santorini is at 7 o'clock and the dot in the middle of its flooded caldera is the Nea Kameni islands (lava domes).
Santorini, a Decade Volcano, is alleged by some researchers to have wrecked the Minoan civilization with a big blast back in the day (though there are other interpretations, too)..
It's a headline magnet, in other words, as well as a VERY popular travel destination, and also is in a very complex geological setting. It probably should have a thread just for background, though small eruptions are not impossible, too.
I can't sum it up here but did so back in 2023, and here's the update on that blog post just now:
February 2, 2025, 11:28 p.m., Pacific: I let the Santorini Volcano slip off my radar after doing the Decade Volcano eBook but it has come into headline news again.
That seismic swarm is interesting and so is this article (Greek) by the group monitoring Santorini, which includes, per browser translation, mention also of a seismovolcanic crisis in Santorini caldera in 2024.
According to that post, the current swarm is unrelated to the intracaldera business, and that is understandable given the complexity of this area. But what’s going on?
My understanding was that nothing as major as the Minoan eruption is impending at Santorini; that the magma chamber is recharging as restless calderas do, and that the most likely eruption scenario there, if one comes, would be similar to mid-20th century activity at the Nea Kameni lava domes out in the caldera bay; and that Kolumbo, a submarine volcano a few miles off Santorini’s coast would be a likely site of eventual eruption again at some point but nothing seemed to be looming there at the moment.
I can’t work on this tonight but will try to dig into things during the week and make it a Sunday Morning Volcano post next weekend (unless events accelerate).
The 2023 blog post below is by no means definitive but it might help you get a sense of the area and fill in the background a bit.
More as things develop. For monitoring, I'm following ISMOSAV on Facebook (Greek) right now.
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