ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s government declared a state of emergency on Santorini on Thursday after hundreds of undersea earthquakes shook the resort island for nearly a week.

A state of emergency was declared on Santorini Thursday after a magnitude 5.2 earthquake shook the Greek island late Wednesday. The tremor is the latest — and strongest — in a series of quakes that have struck the island since last week,

Repeated earthquakes are rattling Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini. Scientists say the quakes aren't related to a slight increase in volcanic activity that has also been registered recently.

Experts say the Greek island of Santorini has been hit by more than 1,000 earthquakes, but they're not linked to the region's active volcanoes.

Emergency will remain in effect until March 3, says Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection - Anadolu Ajansı

Earthquakes are still rattling Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes as authorities bolster their emergency plans in case the hundreds of temblors in recent days are a harbinger of a larger quake to come.

Greece is preparing for any scenario but experts are optimistic about the tremors that triggered an exodus of residents and visitors from the Aegean Sea island of Santorini.

Thousands of people have been evacuating Santorini after days of increased seismic activity that is threatening some of the island’s cliff-top houses. Quakes have been felt on Santorini every few minutes for several days,

Hundreds more people were expected to leave Greece's Santorini island on Wednesday as tremors shook the popular summer tourist destination for a sixth day. About 6,000 people have left on ferries and planes in recent days as hundreds of small quakes were registered in the surounding sea,

More than 11,000 people have already left the island of Santorini following a series of tremors in recent days.