Why does Greece have volcanoes?

Greece has a large volcanic arch, created millions of years ago by the sinking of the African lithosphere (Oceania) under the Eurasiatic plate (mainland).



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Greece is a country that has been formed by several natural phenomena, the rash of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that have created a number of dramatic landscapes worth exploring. Let's discover one by one the volcanic islands of Greece and take in their extraordinary beauty.

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The Mediterranean is ultimately prone to tectonic (and volcanic) activity as a result of the collision of the African plate into the western portion of the Eurasian plate.

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Prior to 1620 BC, the island of Santorini, now known as Thera, was built up by layers of lava created by overlapping shield volcanoes, and it had experienced three significant eruptions that formed overlapping calderas, or collapsed magma chambers.

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Santorini caldera is a large, mostly submerged caldera, located in the southern Aegean Sea, 120 kilometers north of Crete in Greece. Visible above water is the circular Santorini island group, consisting of Santorini, the main island, Therasia and Aspronisi at the periphery, and the Kameni islands at the center.



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According to Dr David Karaton who is an expert in Volcanology, “the topographic relief of Santorini before the Minoan eruption was characterized by a smaller port along with a central island, almost similar to today's Kameni, according to many researchers. But the size and age of this island had remained unknown.

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