{"id":126105,"date":"2025-05-23T19:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T19:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/126105\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T19:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T19:57:10","slug":"is-it-safe-to-travel-to-greece-turkey-italy-and-france-after-countries-put-on-high-alert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/126105\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it safe to travel to Greece, Turkey, Italy and France after countries put on &#8216;high alert&#8217;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recent seismic activity near Crete has set off a chain of emergency responses<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_SalA2.jpg\" alt=\" generic. Salo, Lake Garda.\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Lake Garda(Image: Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Recent seismic activity near Crete has set off a chain of emergency responses across several Mediterranean countries, including Greece, Turkey, Italy and France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A 6.1 magnitude earthquake occurred at 6:19am local time on Thursday, May 22 and was approximately 79 kilometres off the coast near Heraklion, Crete, according to reports. The island is situated on the Hellenic Arc, a tectonic boundary where the African and Eurasian plates meet, making it one of the most seismically active regions in Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Following the event, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre issued a tsunami warning for Greece and neighbouring countries including Turkey, Italy, France, Portugal, and Egypt. <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation,<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=8cdecf69-0a19-43af-8d50-ed4e2c52d045&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The UK Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office advises travellers in Greece to enable emergency alert notifications on their mobile devices to receive timely safety updates and instructions.<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean for travellers?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Governments have urged residents and visitors to stay alert and follow safety instructions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">This includes monitoring official sources for updates and being prepared to evacuate if necessary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Depending on the evolving situation, some coastal areas might experience temporary closures or restrictions, especially near fault lines or in tsunami-risk zones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Emergency services in these countries are fully mobilised and have put robust plans in place to respond swiftly to any incidents.<\/p>\n<p>Should you cancel or postpone your trip?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Currently, while the risk of a tsunami cannot be dismissed entirely, the likelihood of a large-scale event impacting tourist hotspots remains low.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The Mediterranean region is accustomed to managing seismic activity, and infrastructure is generally resilient. However, the Foreign Office generally advises travellers in these types of situations should:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\">\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 ENBBt\">Keep an eye on local news and government advisories<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 ENBBt\">Avoid unnecessary risks near coastal areas prone to tsunami hazards<\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-700e1ff3-0 ENBBt\">Have a clear emergency plan, including knowledge of evacuation routes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The bigger picture<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Despite natural challenges which often affect the Mediterranean, millions of tourists visit safely every year, and Crete specifically is known as one of Europe&#8217;s most common zones for earthquakes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Seismologist, Dr Nikolaos Melis, Director of Research at the Institute of Geodynamics, part of the National Observatory of Athens told <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2025\/05\/22\/dont-panic-but-be-aware-experts-advise-tourists-after-earthquakes-rattle-greece\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Euronews<\/a>: &#8220;For people who are not aware it can be frightening, and whilst it is not impossible for a big earthquake, most buildings and hotels follow a strict building code that protects them from damages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;Greece has got the highest seismic activity in Europe and next to Turkey we have two countries with very high activity. But as I said, the big magnitudes, the catastrophic magnitudes, are very rare.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Get daily<strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"> breaking news<\/strong> updates on your phone by joining <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/KLfwXOh37d73cWPw0KYD9Q\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">our WhatsApp community here<\/a>. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy Notice<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recent seismic activity near Crete has set off a chain of emergency responsesLake Garda(Image: Getty Images\/iStockphoto) Recent seismic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-126105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114558916600277226","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}