THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION AFTER 1500 B.C..

After the destruction of the island and the formation of the caldera the volcano remained dormant for about 1500 years. It took that many years for the conditions which were necessary for the seemingly quiet volcano to act again to be recreated. After the passing of the years of peace, the volcano became energetic again under the sea, in the center of the caldera. The eruptions which took place during the historic years did not have the intensity of the 1500 B.C. eruption, nor did they cause catastrophes. Certain of them, though, were truly terrible. The emerging white hot materials created new domes which emerged as islands on the surface of the sea. The first eruption of the volcano after the one of 1500 B.C. took place at 197 B.C. The island Palea Kameni was formed by the lava of this eruption.

There is not much information about the eruptions of 19 A.D. and 146 A.D. They are just mentioned by the chroniclers. The Byzantine chronicler Kedrinos refers to the eruption of 726 A.D. This eruption formed an islet which was joined to the already existing Palea Kameni. A disagreement exists on whether the eruption which formed Nea Kameni island took place on 1570 or 1573 A.D. The eruption of May, 1707, has been described by a Catholic priest. The clergyman, in his chronicle, gives a vivid impression of the fury of the elements, as well as of the panic that the anger of Enceladus caused to the population. The good clergyman gives an elegant description of the emergence of the new shoal from the bottom of the sea. Brave Santorinians visited it only ten days after its first appearance. The panic and the fear of the eruptions, the smoke, the fire, the ashes, the view of the new land, the wild sea, and the earthquakes, was soon replaced by familiarity. From the end of August, all the above, which had been panicking the people of Thera, had become outdated. The prayers and the liturgies stopped, and only curiosity about what the next day would bring remained. Little by little the volcano settled down, and, at last, after five years (1712) quieted for about 155 years. The eruption which took i place on 20/2/1866 was very ^ large. For four years, the volcano did not quiet. During this volcanic action the domes Georgios and Afroeresa were formed.

Later they were both joined to Nea Kameni. The 20th century is not a century of quiet for the volcano. On 1925 (II August-31 May 1926) the volcano resumed its activity. The result of this activity was the formation of the dome of Dafni, which later joined the Georgios dome. Both domes together, formed, in their final phase, a single island with Nea Kameni. A small-scale eruption was that of January-March (23/1-17/3) 1928. The volcanic activity of this period formed the dome Nautilos on the lava of Dafni. A new eruption occurred on August, 1939. This time the volcano remained active for two years. The volcano quieted down finally on July, 1941. During the two year period that the volcano was active, seven new domes appeared. The last activity of the subterranean giant occurred during January 1950. This weak action ended on 2/2/50 and created one dome. All the domes which were formed during the 1925-50 period have joined in a single totality known with the name Neai Kamene ( New Burnt Islands ). On 1956 strong earthquakes shook the island of Santorini , but the expected eruption failed to take place.
Hot vapors and sulfurous gases are coming out continuously from the crater of the volcano. A visit to the volcano can be made by boat. The e depth in which the source of magma that feeds the volcano is located is estimated to be 1000, meters under the surface of the a sea.