A 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook Mount Athos in northeastern Greece late on Saturday afternoon, generating concerns.

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.

Nearly 8,000 earthquakes have shaken Greece's Santorini island since late January, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency. Approximately 11,000 people were evacuated due to the tremors,

The threat of a more major earthquake seems to have subsided on the most visited of the Greek islands but experts disagree on the origin of the tremors that have caused 11,000 of the 15,000 permanent residents to flee.

Experts say the Greek island of Santorini has been hit by more than 1,000 earthquakes, but they're not linked to the region's active volcanoes.

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,

Authorities declared a state of emergency on a second Greek island Wednesday as a series of earthquakes continued to rattle the south-eastern Aegean Sea region. The emergency measure announced on the island of Amorgos follows a similar decision for nearby Santorini on Feb.

Seismologists have noted that the epicentre of the earthquakes is steadily drifting northward in the direction of Amorgos.