Old photos misleadingly shared as quakes rattle Santorini

Published on February 6, 2025 at 17:57
6 min read
By Magdalini GKOGKOU, AFP Greece

A series of earthquakes on Santorini has prompted thousands of people to leave the Greek tourist island since early February 2025. Against this backdrop, some social media users were sharing old, out-of-context images and wrongly linking them to the tremors on the island. One example was a photo of Santorini's Red Beach from more than 10 years ago, being shared online with false claims about landslides. Another was a viral photo of lava spewing from a volcano that AFP traced back to the Associated Press database, which showed it was taken not on Santorini but in Indonesia in 2007. Greek experts have stated that so far, there are no signs of volcanic activity on Santorini as a result of the earthquakes.

The volcanic island of Santorini has been rattled by an unprecedented wave of seismic activity, including seven successive tremors measuring over 4.0 magnitude on February 6, 2025 (archived here). An even stronger 5.2 magnitude tremor was recorded on February 5, according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute.

The institute said over 6,000 tremors have been recorded in the Aegean Sea near the islands of Santorini, Amorgos, Anafi and Ios since January 26.

More than 11,000 residents and seasonal workers have left Santorini by sea and air since early February, with operators laying on additional flights and ferries. The unprecedented phenomenon has given rise to safety concerns and fuelled fears of a potential escalation of the situation.

Red Beach photo published as far back as 2013

On February 4, Greek media reported that the quakes had caused a landslide on Red Beach, one of the most popular beaches on Santorini. Images published by Greek media showed rockfall on a section of the beach, with reports saying an access path had been blocked as a result.

In this context, Facebook users in Greece began circulating a photo of Red Beach as seen from above, along with the false claim that "The Red Beach of Santorini collapsed into the sea after the 5 magnitude tremors". The picture shows an aerial view of the cliffside beach with rockfall debris seen in the vicinity of sun loungers.

The image and the same claim were shared on Facebook (here, here, here and here), Threads (here) and Greek media websites (here, here and here). Neither the articles nor the posts indicated the photo was an archive picture.

However, AFP found that the photo has appeared online since at least 2013. Although it does indeed show Red Beach in Santorini, it is unrelated to the recent quakes.

Screenshot of a misleading post on Facebook captured on February 6, 2025

A reverse image search on TinEye showed that the photo has been online since at least September 7, 2015.

Since the hyperlink in the first and oldest result on TinEye, named "user/3586314/tags/Vulkan", didn't work, we copied and pasted it into the WayBack Machine. This digital archive platform provided an archived version of the photo dated July 10, 2013. This is the earliest version of the image published online AFP was able to find.

According to these results, the image was originally uploaded to "Panoramio", a photo-sharing platform that was deactivated in 2016.

On Panoramio, the image was uploaded by a user named "th81" with the following caption in German "Santorini, view of the ‘Red Beach’ from above".

Another reverse image search revealed that the image has since been featured on multiple websites, all identifying it as Red Beach in Santorini (examples here, here and here).

Screenshot taken on February 6, 2025 showing the Red Beach photo was published on the Panoramio platform in 2013

Picture of volcano in Indonesia in 2007

The seismic tremors have also revived fears of volcanic activity on Santorini, whose volcano last erupted in 1950. Another viral photo that circulated among Greek social media users in early February 2025 showed what appears to be lava flowing down a volcano by the sea, along with the claim: "Alarm in Santorini: The volcano is awake - People (are) on the streets" (examples here, here and here).

Although some users in the comments expressed disbelief at the posts, other comments showed that the posts were spreading fear. "The inhabitants of all the islands in the volcanic arc have packed their bags. Unfortunately, the world is scared, and not without reason," one social media user wrote.

The same photo with the claim that the Santorini volcano was showing signs of activity was also published by Greek websites (here, here and here). Neither the articles nor the posts indicated the photo was an archive picture.

However, AFP found the photo in the database of the Associated Press news agency, where it was identified as being taken in 2007 and showing the volcanic island Anak Krakatau in Indonesia.

Screenshot of a misleading photo on a Facebook post. Taken on February 5, 2025

A reverse image search led us to this article featuring the same picture with the byline "Image credit: AP Photo/Ed Wray" and the following caption: "The Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) volcano sends up powerful clouds of hot gasses, rocks, and lava as a fishing boat is moored offshore early Thursday Nov. 8, 2007, in the Sunda Straits between Java and Sumatra, Indonesia".

A search using the keywords "Anak Krakatau 2007" in the Associated Press photo database retrieved the original photo (archived here). The photo was taken at Anak Krakatau, Indonesia, on November 8, 2007, as shown in the image metadata in the screenshot below.

Screenshot of the original photo in the AP photo database. Taken on February 5, 2025

AFP has debunked another claim in which an old image was misleadingly shared as a current one from Santorini here.

The island of Santorini, pictured here on February 5, 2025, has been hit by a series of earthquakes (AFP / Stringer)

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