ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Increased volcanic activity in Greece’s famed tourist hotspot of Santorini has prompted the country’s civil protection minister to call a meeting with local and disaster response officials.
In an announcement late Wednesday, the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry said monitoring sensors had picked up “mild seismic-volcanic activity” in Santorini’s caldera. Similar volcanic activity had been recorded in the area in 2011, when it lasted for 14 months and ended without causing any issues.
Scientists monitoring the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, which stretches from the Peloponnese in southern Greece through the Cycladic islands, have noted an increase in activity in a central fault line in the northern part of Santorini’s caldera, the announcement said.
“According to the scientists, based on the currently available data there is no cause for particular concern,” it added.
The crescent-shaped island of Santorini is one of Greece’s most popular tourist destinations, drawing visitors from across the world for its whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches clinging to the cliff edge of the flooded caldera.
It was also the site of one of largest volcanic eruptions in human history, which took place in the Bronze Age around 1620 BC, destroying a large part of the island and giving Santorini its current shape. The eruption is believed to have contributed to the decline of the ancient Minoan civilization which had flourished in the region.
Although it is still an active volcano, the last notable eruption occurred in 1950.
“What we must realize is that the Santorini volcano produces very large explosions every 20,000 years,” Efthymios Lekkas, seismologist and head of the scientific monitoring committee for the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, said on Greece’s ERT television Thursday. “It’s been 3,000 years since the last explosion, so we have a very long time ahead of us before we face a big explosion.”
In the intervening time, Lekkas said, volcanic activity increases and decreases, and can cause small earthquakes. “The volcano is a living organism,” he said, adding that “we will not face a big explosion, but a mild procedure.”
Lekkas was among those who attended Wednesday's meeting called by Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias, along with the head of Greece's fire department, the deputy minister in charge of natural disaster recovery and several local and regional officials.
FILE - Ruins of a settlement, including a former Catholic monastery, lie on the rocky promontory of Skaros on the Greek island of Santorini, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nadia Comaneci, Apolo Ohno, Bart Conner and Cullen Jones were among the more than 300 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who gathered Tuesday under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Summer Games will open in 2028.
In an effort to promote Wednesday's registration launch for tickets to the Los Angeles Games, the athletes representing 28 different Olympics dating to 1960 joined Janet Evans in a short countdown to the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron against a clear blue winter sky.
“LA is committed to delivering an athlete-centered games and that can only happen if athletes are actually at the center of our planning,” said Evans, the Olympic champion swimmer who is chief athlete officer for the LA28 organizing committee.
The get-together felt like a homecoming to Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever with eight short track speedskating medals.
“I walked in and I literally saw like 50 of my friends that I'd grown up in the Olympic training center with for many years,” he said. "I haven't seen some of these people for 10 years or more."
The athletes met with LA28 officials beforehand, with several offering suggestions on how to improve the athlete experience.
“We have the athlete voice in the areas that really need to be heard,” said Jones, the retired swimmer who joined the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last summer as associate director of athlete marketing. “I'm really excited to see what LA28 looks like.”
Conner noted that with the majority of venues already built in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which will host softball and canoe slalom, organizers can focus on the competitors. The three-time Olympic gymnast capped his career at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
“The athletes know that they're the center of every decision,” he said. “It's not just like, let's call the athletes and see what they think about it. The athletes are already in all the board meetings. I understood today that there's more athletes involved in leadership here in the Olympic organizing committee than there are at the IOC.”
Nearby, Comaneci twirled for photographers under the peristyle. The Romanian gymnast became a teenage superstar at the 1976 Montreal Games, where she earned the first perfect 10.0 mark in Olympic history. She and Conner will mark their 30th wedding anniversary in April.
Registration opens at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday at Tickets.LA28.org. It's the first step for a chance to secure a time slot to buy tickets starting in April. After registering, fans will be randomly assigned time slots to buy tickets throughout future ticket releases.
Individual tickets, hospitality packages including tickets and packages involving travel and accommodations will also go on sale later this year.
The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Former Olympians gather for a group photo at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Former Olympian Jane Evans, LA28 Chief Athlete Officer, center right, stands next to Casey Wasserman, LA28 Chairperson and President, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
