The ancient Greek town that suffered the same fate as Pompeii

The eruption of Santorini in 1615 BCE, covered the town of Akrotiri with metres of volcanic debris. Today, archaeologists are in the process of excavating it – and marvelling at its remarkably preserved ruins.

Santorini, named by early Venetians in honour of Saint Irene, forms a circular group of islands belonging to the Cyclades island chain in the southern Aegean Sea, located midway between mainland Greece to the west, Turkey to the east, and the island of Crete to the south.

The Cyclades form part of the Aegean island arc system, generated by northward subduction of the African plate along the arcuate Hellenic trench system located south of Crete. Within this plate-tectonic setting, the ring-shaped group of islands known as Santorini includes Thera (the largest), Therasia (little Thera), Aspronisi, and the central Kameni Islands.

The islands of Santorini were not formed by a single volcanic event, but by eruptions over a long period of time. Geologic studies indicate that at least 12 eruptive phases occurred over the last one million years. However, the late Bronze Age event referenced in the video was an eruption of epic proportions, with an estimated Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6.9.

Before this devastation, Santorini was a large circular island with a water-filled embayment to the south or southwest. But as a result of the late Bronze Age eruption, the central highland of the volcanic island collapsed to generate the modern caldera.

Today, the island group exhibits ongoing seismic activity, and both fumaroles and hydrothermal springs are common features on the islands.

View the original video here.

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