Tourists escape, but the local resilient stay

In Santorini’s quiet summer day, in July 1956, the Earth became against his people.

“I remember our dog and the birds play strangers. Then” 83-year-old Eirini Mindinou remembers, his voice is stable but remote. “The house was redeparted before closing again. Through the crack on the roof, I saw the sky.”

7.8 Earthquakes of magnitude, between the island of Santorini and Amorgos, destroyed a large part of the island and ended 12 minutes later. Fifty three people died. The island, then fishing was just a quiet town, and his people escaped.

Today is much different, rebuilt one of the destinations of Greek tourists, but this week, another mass of mass spread. Sharts began in June 2024 Have become whole earthquakesRichter scale 4.0 exceeds, shaking houses and undo the neighbors of the island. Families ignore the air and the sea, shaking again by shaking his breath again.

But not everyone escapes. The remaining of the locals who have come to define the locals in this island show the needs and deep connections. They suffer from sleeping nights, the past memories and the fear that would not yet come.

“The noise of the earthquake, (others) apart. It is not unbearable. Even in my house, it is absolute,” says Margarita Karamolegukou, its employer. “I felt tired day day, unfinished in sight … But I can’t feel fear. I can’t leave my house, and I can’t leave the people behind it.”

This resilience is nothing new. People have visited the 2,4 million islands last year, according to the mayor of Nikos zorzos and seismic changes. Now, as always, they have come together in solidarity.

“We’re trying to help the weak ones,” says Matthaios Fytros, a volunteer and a merchant. “People with disabilities – a lot of struggle to change a lot, and their homes have difficulty. If there is a great success of the earthquake, I know where they live, and I can reach the firefighters as soon as possible.”

Matthaios and others patrol the island, abandoned properties are not captured and no one needs help. “I’m not afraid,” he stated with calm conviction. “We are proud of our islands. I hope to practice everything and end this substitute soon. We will be happy to return our visitors to us.”

The state response has been fast, measures taken to address the crisis. Beneath gratitude for the government’s intervention, however, lasts a quiet bitterness. Many islands remind you of better infrastructure and support that were not cries.

“We’ve been asking for a better port for years to help you manage something that is growing in the number of tourists,” Margarita says, full of frustration of his voice. “We need help to store the island’s identity – its unique environment, the seismic and volcanic forces of form. We also need to protect the tourists, but we also need to protect Santorini.”

Tourism has become a life of Santorini’s economy. The island contributes about 2.5% to Greek GDP, approximately 5.9 trillion euros (4.9 billion £) annually.

As the tremors follow, the future of Santorini’s economy is certainly. Will her prosperity shake? The town of Santorini worries that the fragility of the island soon expands beyond the ground.

“I regret how the island development has been with the rise of tourism,” says EIRINI, which is temporarily in Athena, not afraid, but routine for medical tests. “We have damaged a natural environment here. Now, following the earthquakes, there is a real risk that we can lose the entire tourist season.”

Scientists may not know when they stop shaking, but instead of fear, some residents have chosen to understand the phenomenon with the hope that they will bring to reassure the unknown.

“I try to think about what is happening with kindness,” says the daisy thinking. “It feels that something is fixed. Today we admire everything we admire about Santorini – beauty, character – volcanoes and its seismic forces.”

“We are the most beloved island,” says Matthaios, a voice full of pride. “And I think we are the most beautiful in all the islands of Greek. We will come out of that.”