Thousands leave as fresh tremors shake Greek island

SANTORINI, Feb 04 (AFP): Thousands of people were leaving the Greek island of Santorini by sea and air for a third day on Tuesday, as an unprecedented series of earthquakes shook the top travel destination.

Some 6,000 people have already left the island, known for its spectacular cliffside views and a dormant volcano, which has been hit by hundreds of tremors since last week, officials said.

A quake with a magnitude of 4.9 hit early on Tuesday morning amid other smaller tremors. No injuries or damage were reported on Santorini and the neighbouring islands of Anafi, Ios and Amorgos, which have also been affected by the seismic activity.

Experts say the region has not experienced seismic activity on this scale in recent history and do not know how long it will last.

Santorini lies atop a volcano which last erupted in 1950.