Quakefinder Blog

QuakeFinder in Greece

QuakeFinder just completed the installation of 4 new instruments in Greece to complement the 4 units currently there.  Two of the new units were installed in the Corinth area of Greece, west of Athens, and 2 units on Santorini Island in the southern Aegean Sea.  Santorini was the site of a gigantic volcanic explosion 3600 years ago, and created a crater almost 11 km long by 6 km wide and spawned a huge tsunami that wiped out the Minoan civilization on Crete, 110 km to the south. According to some local legends, it is the site of the destroyed the city of Atlantis. The reason that this area was selected is based on concerns of the seismic community about Santorini relative to some recent rumbling inside the caldera area during January 2011 and April 2012. One of the 2 sites on Santorini is next to the archeological excavations at Akrotiri (Acrotiri), the ancient port city of Thira (Santorini). We also have a second unit to the east of Fira, the main city on the edge of the caldera. With the city of Fira situated on the 800-900 ft cliffs looking down on the caldera, and Acrotiri buried under 30m of ash, these two sites have to get the award for the most visually spectacular locations associated of the entire QuakeFinder network of 112 sites.