A famous Greek seismologist has come under investigation after spreading on April 1st a lie that a huge funnel could open under the volcanic island of Santorini, one of Greece's most popular tourist destinations.

And the director of the Hellenic Institute of Geodynamics and the Tsunami Center , Akis Tsilentis , posted a photo on Facebook on Wednesday, similar to police photos of the detainees, in which he appears to be holding a paper that reads, "Guilty of April Fool's prank."

"We live in a country where humor is persecuted, unlike pedophiles, rapists and scammers," he added.
On Tuesday, a public prosecutor ordered a preliminary investigation to determine whether Tslintis' post on April 1 qualifies as promoting fake news.

Celentis wrote on Facebook that "the situation is not good in Santorini." "Since January, a gradual decrease in magma has been recorded under the volcano," he added.

Celentis joked that there was a "high probability" that the magma was moving towards an imaginary volcano, creating a funnel-shaped void that could "swallow the waters of the Aegean Sea".

A volcanic eruption at the end of the seventeenth century BC that wiped out the Minoan civilization completely reshaped the topography of Santorini, and the island is still witnessing high geothermal activity accompanied by seismic tremors.

In 1950, the last major eruption of the most active part of the volcano, located under the uninhabited lava island of Kameni, was recorded.