Santorini/Thera

[TornadoFan]

Do you have a link for that webicorder?

Here is an update from five hours ago:



X translation: "Santorini Island SANT observation point's record for UTC 15th, up until 01:40 just now. The seismometer is an STS-2, and it seems to be a monitor record with a filter equivalent to WWSSN's short-period seismometer applied. There are still many earthquakes."

Those look like rock-breaking quakes to this layperson, FWIW. However, there is this thread (Spanish), and overall it sounds as though something complex might now be going on at Santorini (miles away from the Amorgos swarm and a seismotectonic event that has been ongoing since 2024).

Will try to track down some official word on it.

Real-time seismogram from station: THERA

 

[bjdeming]

No more tremor episodes on the two webicorders. This is the only news update I could find:

The Friday earthquakes in the Santorini-Amorgos zone are entirely volcanic, said Professor of Natural Disasters and Academy of Athens member Dr. Costas Synolakis.

Speaking on public television ERT, the distinguished scientist also called for a broader meeting with foreign experts over the Santorini earthquakes.

“Last night, earthquakes of a different type were recorded, indicating that volcanic magma is rising. Although the vibrations stopped within an hour and a half, it was clear that these were purely volcanic earthquakes,” Dr. Synolakis said.


“A volcanic swarm occurred, which, as seismologists say, was very, very noisy,” he said, adding that seismologists are examining other parameters. “It is time to hold a broader meeting with foreign experts who are more experienced. We cannot rely only on the 2011 experience. We must compare the phenomenon with dozens of other cases to understand where we are headed.”

-- Source

 

[bjdeming]

There are various international programs. I don't know how we could help. It could be purely academic or perhaps something that the VDAP program might handle, if that part of USAID has survived the hatchet.

 

[bjdeming]

There are changes on many of the webicorders, and on a couple, what looks like tremor but <layperson speculation> is probably chained small earthquakes.</layperson speculation>

The Amorgos swarm is picking up again, too, and of course that also shows in the seismic tracing.

Still, there seems to be a lot of small energetic stuff going on -- still mostly rock-breaking type (layperson!), but the quantity of it and background "noise" on some of the tracings are interesting.

 

[bjdeming]

The webicorders I use are at Volcano Discovery (live cam there, too!) and through GFZ (you'll have to type in the date or use the forward button). There is also the official NOA list, but I'm not real proficient at this yet.

 

[Sawmaster]

There are various international programs. I don't know how we could help. It could be purely academic or perhaps something that the VDAP program might handle, if that part of USAID has survived the hatchet.

I really worry that the bull in the china shop approach is going to very badly affect all our earth and weather science stuff.

 

[bjdeming]

Whatever was causing that background noise cleared today:



As you can see, the Amorgos biggies are still hammering away:

 

[bjdeming]

I really worry that the bull in the china shop approach is going to very badly affect all our earth and weather science stuff.

Then people will find a way, as they did at Santorini (Greek). Browser translated excerpt:

In the three-year period 1993-1995, a European program enabled a group of Greek scientists to design and set up a multiparametric monitoring network for the Santorini volcano (Kamena complex). When the funding ended and faced with the possibility of the monitoring being stopped due to (as it turned out) the Greek state’s perennial reluctance to undertake it, the scientists, in collaboration with the local community, founded the Institute for the Study and Monitoring of the Santorini Volcano ( IMPIS ), which has continued the work for the past 30 years. For two generations now, scientists and residents have maintained, repaired, replaced and generally ensured the operation and upgrading of a network of instruments that provided valuable information both in quiet and troubled times (crisis 2011-12) while at the same time, through a variety of actions, they informed society about the present and past of the Theraean geoenvironment.

That scratch approach is sort of how VDAP got started, too, according to Dick Thompson in Volcano Cowboys.

But government support is how VDAP and so many other earth science programs, grants, etc., have helped the greatest number of people here and abroad and brought the most brainpower to bear -- overall effectively, I think -- on very tough problems.

<Rant>One thing that the dramas produced by King Donald/Crown Prince JD/Prince Musk -- sorry, Prince Rogers and that incredible 2007 halftime show -- might be meant to distract us from is a nearly empty barrel. NOAA recently released the cost estimates of last year's natural disasters -- even without the LA wildfires looming, it was a breath-taking number of trillions.

And there were pre-2024 high costs already.

Decentralization is needed to some extent, in the sense of rebuilding upward, and I want the best top-down help for them. We have to maintain in the present and build the future, too.

It's a tough job in Greece, the US, or anywhere.

Up until recently, I figured we had the best of it. Now I hope the Bull, switching metaphors, at least leaves the vital government-associated framework intact, and the people who work it so well regardless of their political persuasions.

Guess it all comes down to what the valuables are made of: china or steel. I think there's a lot of steel in US weather and geological science still. <rant>

 

[bjdeming]

Two of the Volcano Discovery webicorders show what looks like tremor, but the others don't. One of the two webicorders is labeled Akrotiri, which is the white "cap" on the right caldera wall in the Heliotopos cam. Looks like they're having or just had a squall over there, so the signal might be weather related. There is nothing in the news about volcanism.

This Facebook post has a graphic that shows the Amorgos swarm from start through February 19. I like it because it also shows the distance between that and the ring-shaped caldera at the lower left.

 

[bjdeming]

They held a meeting today. Protective emergency measures are still on, but according to browser translation of this article (Greek):

After discussion among the members of the Committees and the presentation and examination of all the data so far, the following were unanimously formulated:
The seismic sequence in the sea area of Anydros between Thira and Amorgos is showing a decline, with 1,368 earthquakes from February 1 to date with a magnitude above 3.0 (and with a maximum recorded magnitude of M 5.3).
The current seismic activity in the area of Anydros island is due to submarine faults with a NE-SW direction and is part of the broader geodynamic context of the area. According to the available data, this activity is due to a combination of tectonics and deeper magmatism.
Seismic activity within the caldera remains at the same levels, while a decrease in the rate of ground deformation is observed in the wider area of Santorini, which is constantly monitored.
Public buildings, based on the inspections carried out so far, have demonstrated very good behavior under seismic loads.

 

[bjdeming]

Also:

 

[bjdeming]

Things have quieted down quite bit -- yay! -- and the only news is that Italy's INGV has signed on to help monitor Santorini and the Amorgos quakes.