Friday, February 7

The Greek tourist hotspot of Santorini continues to be slammed by earthquakes and tremors, and fears of a major earthquake in the coming days are still growing.

Santorini began feeling minor earthquakes around a week ago, with tremors increasing in frequency and magnitude over the course of last weekend. By Monday, over 200 small quakes had hit the island, with several reaching magnitude 4 and dozens of others exceeding magnitude 3. In case you missed it, read more into the initial shaking here.

Santorini lies on a fault line between the Aegean Microplate and the African Plate, which is what created the supervolcano in the center of the small ring of islands that includes Santorini. Read more into the volcano's history here. While fault lines regularly unleash bouts of shaking, the latest seismic activity has lasted an unusually long time and is fueling growing fears that a major earthquake could be on the way-- though scientists have confirmed that the earthquakes are not volcano-related.

As the week progressed, the earthquakes continued to get stronger, with the strongest quake reaching a magnitude of 5.2 as it struck on Wednesday night. Schools were closed, construction was stopped, pools were drained to prevent structural damage, and the streets were soon emptied of tourists-- Santorini, which sees 3.4 million tourists per year, has a mere 20,000 residents, and over 11,000 people have been evacuated to the mainland in just a few days. Seismologists have also maintained that there is a considerable risk of landslides due to Santorini's steep cliffs, serving as the basis for advising people to stay inside.

A state of emergency has also been declared until March 3, allowing Greek authorities to further take control of the situation and prevent damage from happening. So far, no major damage has been reported and no deaths or severe injuries have occurred, but the government is preparing for some type of stronger earthquake that could be on the way-- and the tsunami that could possibly come with it. However, the seismic activity is showing no signs of slowing down, and experts say that it could likely last for several days, if not weeks, more.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Despite the common myth that a human's hair and fingernails continue to grow after death, this is untrue. While it’s understandable why people think this-- the hair and fingernails of corpses do appear longer after a person has been dead for a while-- they’re actually not growing. Instead, the skin around the scalp and fingers begins to recede due to factors like dehydration and rotting, giving the illusion of growth.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Work will take everything you give it. It’s up to you to work out what you want to give it. (Amy Pascal)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Ad-lib (verb, AD-LIB) - To ad-lib something, such as a performance or part of a performance, is to improvise it—that is, to make up words or music instead of saying, singing, or playing something that has been planned.

In a Sentence: The actor forgot his lines, so he ad-libbed.