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.

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.

The Greek island of Santorini was struck by the latest in a string of earthquakes Tuesday, this time a 4.8 temblor. The government said it will backstop the island destination's tourist industry.

Earthquakes are still rattling Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes as authorities bolster their emergency plans in case the hundreds of temblors in recent days are a harbinger of a larger quake to come.

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