ATHENS, Greece — Scientists have detected several thousand earthquakes, the vast majority of them with small magnitudes, in just over two weeks near Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini, the University of Athens’ crisis management committee said Tuesday, adding that a larger quake cannot be ruled out.

It welcomes around 3 million visitors per year, but between January 26 and February 8, the Seismology Laboratory of the University of Athens has registered a staggering 12,800 earthquakes in the Santorini-Amorgos zone, the strongest of these was last night at a magnitude of 5.3.

On Monday, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in the sea area between Santorini and Amorgos in the Cyclades. This seismic event, noted as the strongest in recent weeks, resulted in no casualties or damage reported. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the sea area 14 kilometers south-southwest of Amorgos.

The emergency measure announced on the island of Amorgos follows a similar decision for nearby Santorini on February 7 after thousands of unusual tremors were registered in an undersea area

Amorgos: Emergency declared on second Greek island as string of earthquakes persists - A series of earthquakes continues to rattle the south-eastern Aegean Sea region

February marks the unofficial start of the tourist season in the Greek island of Santorini - when the first cruise ships are due to arrive and the Easter holidays approach. But with thousands of earthquakes shaking the island since January and experts unable to say when they will end,