Santorini, a renowned tourist destination in Greece, received its first cruise ship of the year on Sunday after thousands of small February earthquakes led to a state of emergency, prompted mass evacuations and raised concerns among locals about the potential impact on the tourist season.
Millions of tourists flock to Santorini every year, squeezing along its whitewashed cobbled streets to view its famous cliff-top sunset.
The increased seismic activity – unprecedented even in a country as quake-prone as Greece – had prompted authorities to shut schools, halt construction and dispatch rescuers to the island.
The undersea shocks – sometimes recorded only minutes apart – also led thousands of residents and workers to flee the nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi.
On Sunday morning, the Celestyal Discovery docked in the sparkling Aegean waters off Santorini with around 1,700 mostly American tourists on board. Celestyal Cruises had taken Santorini off its list earlier this month.
"It's exciting to know that the island's open again and we get to visit first," said 67-year-old Deborah Terry.
Another passenger, Julie Eberly, said she was confident the island was out of danger.
"We trust the tourism board here, so if they said it was safe to come, we came with open arms."
An island of around 20,000 residents, Santorini took its current shape following one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history around 1600 B.C. It welcomes around 2.5 million tourists every year and its economy depends almost exclusively on tourism.
More than 20,000 earthquakes of magnitude 1 or higher were recorded between Jan. 26 and Feb. 22, according to the Interdisciplinary Committee for Risk and Crisis Management at the University of Athens.
The multiple earthquakes, attributed to natural tectonic processes as well as magma movements below the seabed, have measured up to magnitude 5.3 but have caused only minor damage.
Locals said they were pinning their hopes on visitors returning to the island.
"We all hope that things will return to normal, that people will come back," said Tassos Kontos, a shop owner. "The cloud seems to be lifting."
No major damage has been reported on the island following the quakes, but authorities have said they will set up an evacuation port to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits.
