How long can the “seismic crisis” last?

“We put all our mattresses in the living room,” says Georgia Nomiku.

The Santorini resident fears the impact of the ongoing earthquakes on the Greek island, popular with tourists for the views of her picture.

But the idyll was interrupted last week by thousands of earthquakes.

Santorini and other Greek islands in the region are in the middle of an “unprecedented” seismic swarm or crisis – the name for a sharp increase in earthquakes in a particular area.

About three quarters of the 15,000 population on the island have evacuated, while authorities declare a state of emergency after magnitude 5.2, the largest so far, shook the island on Wednesday.

In addition, albeit a fewer earthquakes, they felt again on Thursday.

The “clusters” of earthquakes are puzzled by scientists who say that such a model is unusual because they were not related to great shock. So what’s going on?

Experts agree that the island is experiencing what the Prime Minister of Greece called “an extremely and complex geological phenomenon”.

“It is indeed unprecedented, we have never seen anything like this before (modern times) in Greece,” says Dr. Atanasios Ganas, scientific director of Athens National Observatory.

Santorini is located on the Hellenic volcanic arc – a chain of islands created by volcanoes.

But he has not observed a big eruption lately, not in fact, not since the 1950s, so the reason for the current crisis is unclear.

Experts say they see a lot of earthquakes in a relatively small area that do not correspond to the model of sequence of the main stroke, says Dr. Ganas.

He said it began with the awakening of a Santorini volcano last summer. Then in January there was a “leap” of seismic activity, recording smaller earthquakes.

This activity has escalated in the last week.

Thousands of earthquakes have been recorded since Sunday, with the most significant so far on Wednesday.

“We are in the middle of a seismic crisis, “said Dr. Gasasas.

Margarita Segu from British geological studies described earthquakes as “in impulses” daily.

She says this “swarm-like behavior” means that when the earthquake strikes, such as magnitude four, “seismicity increases in one to two hours and then the system relaxes again.”

In short, it is impossible to say. There is hopes that the quake on Wednesday, which struck at night, will be the largest that hit the island.

But seismologists have told the BBC that it is difficult to be sure. Authorities have warned that the activity can last weeks.

Experts also do not know whether this earthquake chain is predicted, leading to a big earthquake or an event.

Professor Joanna Faur Walker, an expert in the geology of the earthquake at the UCL Disaster Risk Disasters, said some major earthquakes were experiencing predictions – elevated levels of small to moderate seismic events – before the main shock.

But what is happening now are not volcanic earthquakes, say Dr. Ganas. Vulcanic earthquakes have a characteristic signature of low frequency waves and they are not displayed here.

The BBC told the BBC that she and his colleagues had analyzed previous earthquakes in the region with machine learning – a method of data analysis capable of making forecasts – to learn how earthquakes in the region in 2002 and 2004 were completed.

The magnitude of these earthquakes was not as intense as the ones she said now. But the “signatures” of how they started and ended can help build a picture of what models to be careful.

Meanwhile, there are additional police units and military forces on the island to help him deal with any major earthquake.

Da nomicu, who is the president of the Santorini Municipal Council, said her family remained placed, but everyone had packaged a small bag, “ready to go if something happens.”

But some islanders say they have not been taken over by tremors.

“I’m not afraid at all,” says a Santorini resident, who decided to stay on the volcanic island, despite thousands of their neighbors who fled against the background of continuing earthquakes.

Chantal Metakides insists that she will not join her countrymen. “For 500 years, this house has lived during earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and it is still standing,” she told AFP News Agency, adding, “There is no reason to change this.”