Earthquakes rattled Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes through the night and into Wednesday as authorities bolstered their emergency plans in case the hundreds of temblors over the past few days are a harbinger of a larger quake to come.

Hundreds more people were expected to leave Greece's Santorini island on Wednesday as tremors shook the popular summer tourist destination for a sixth day. About 6,000 people have left on ferries and planes in recent days as hundreds of small quakes were registered in the surounding sea,

Emergency services were deployed in readiness and schools were closed after more than 200 temblors struck in the Aegean, near Santorini, within 48 hours.