Greek officials have declared a state of emergency, and tourists and locals have fled the tourist island of Santorini amid earthquakes in the past few days. 

The strongest of the quakes are just above magnitude 5 on the Richter scale, including one that struck 13.6 miles from the town of Fira on Santorini at 9:16 a.m. Friday. The earthquake happened 6.2 miles underground, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Greek Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection issued a state of emergency for Santorini on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. No injuries have been reported.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Santorini on Friday. He wrote on X, “I want to assure the residents of Santorini, as well as all the neighboring islands that are currently experiencing hardship, that the state apparatus is on their side,” as translated from Greek.

Some experts, including Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology President Carlo Doglioni, believe the largest earthquake is yet to come.

“[There] are many episodes of magnitude 4 to 5 (on the Richter scale). We have also had earthquakes of magnitude 5 and a little higher. This means that the sequence does not show a loss of energy. On the contrary, it is increasing in terms of magnitude and number of earthquakes. So we have not yet reached what is called a mainshock, that is, a main earthquake,” Mr. Doglioni told the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. as translated from Greek.

Another  5.1 quake, which struck at 9:09 p.m. Wednesday, happened 6.2 miles underground and 18.6 miles from Oia on Santorini, according to the USGS.

Many locals fear a possible volcanic eruption. The last one was in 1950. The historic Minoan eruption in 1600 B.C., one of history’s largest, gave the island its current shape.

“Us locals, we’re used to earthquakes. It was the volcano — the fear that it could erupt and start spewing very toxic smoke — that was our real worry. … Everyone is on tenterhooks,” island resident and evacuee Veroniki Balabonidi told The Guardian.

Not everyone is sold on evacuating.

“Why should I worry? If something is to happen to you, it could happen while walking down the street. It’s your time to go, it’s over,” Panagiotis Hatzigeorgiou, a municipal worker on the island, told Agence France-Presse.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.