The beads of his komboloi spinning, Manolis Goulas started to pray the rosary just as soon as he sat down to two cups of coffee, convinced that this age-old activity of Greek men that keeps the fingers busy also calms the mind. If the owner of Emporio's Puzzle Café was upset, it was due less to the earth shaking beneath his feet than to his waitress's hasty departure, frightened by the thousands of tremors Santorini has been experiencing since the end of January. This exit had forced him to run his own bistro in the middle of February. The time when every good islander takes advantage of the low season.

Down in the village of Emporio, the most traditional on the island of Santorini, life moves slowly between the Panagia Mesani church and the Puzzle Café, the men's meeting place. On this Sunday, February 9, the place of prayer was fully booked, and so was the café. And while next door people prayed for the salvation of the island − a special procession was planned for Tuesday − the village elders didn't seem to mind that the earth had shaken 23 times since dawn. With each tremor, vibrations could be felt for a few seconds as they caused the earth to move underfoot, shaking the frames of light buildings and furniture, and sometimes causing loose objects to fall from shelves. For the farmer in front of the church, who was selling his first tomatoes from a plastic crate, the most important thing was that the earth's tremors didn't cause them to roll to the ground.

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