April 19, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Crete: should we expect new tremors?

Over the past 9 hours, after the main shock of 6 points, 30 tremors have occurred in Crete, with a magnitude of up to 4.8 on the Richter scale. Experts shrug their shoulders and say that they did not know about this rift.

The situation in Crete is still difficult. One of the main problems is the continuing seismic activity in the region. In particular, after the main shock, in the area near Arkalohori, more than 30 tremors have already occurred. Of these, with a magnitude over 4 points, there were 7 aftershocks, and the strongest of them was an earthquake that occurred at 14:02, with a magnitude of 4.8 on the Richter scale.

Mayor of Viannos: worst earthquake in 50 years

The Mayor of Viannos, Archanes, Minas Stavrakakis, spoke about the earthquake that struck Crete and said it was the strongest in half a century in the region, while expressing his concern about the activation of the famous Kastelli Fault, which splits the island in half.

He stated: “The damage is enormous. I cannot describe it in words. Both old and new buildings have been destroyed, and in my opinion it is a miracle that there are no people killed or seriously injured in our municipality.

“I am 50 years old and I can tell you with confidence that there has not been such an earthquake in Crete. There have always been earthquakes, but in the underwater zone. This time, it was on land and on the surface, and the Castelli Fault, which we have always thought about and which the scientific community monitors, was activated. The earthquake had a very large acceleration. Imagine that Athens in 1999 had 5.9 on the Richter scale and there was a lot of damage. I would say that it was proportional, if not more, and therefore I tell you that it is a miracle that we only have these losses. We were lucky.

“We are not talking about it, the damage is enormous. The town hall was badly damaged, like many new houses. We also have a lot of damage to the electricity supply and irrigation system. There are big problems on the roads. The whole mechanism of the municipality is on the “ears”, and we are trying to deal with the situation in the first place ”.

The driver describes the moment when stones fell on his car

During the earthquake, a man was driving when stones fell on his car. His wife was also in the car, but fortunately none of them were seriously injured.

“Then it just became our attention. We need to light a candle at the Virgin Mary. Immediately, at the turn, the car shook, I thought that I had a flat tire, slowed down and drove to the right to stop. I did not have time to stop and saw the rock shaking, a cloud of dust and how stones fell. The only thing that we suffered was that my wife was injured, but fortunately, lightly. In a panic, she got out of the car and was hit on the head with a stone, “the driver told neakriti.

Akis Tselentis, director of the Athens Geodynamic Institute, advised local residents to exercise caution and vigilance, noting that “we can have collapses even during small earthquakes.” A little earlier, in a conversation with SKAI, Mr. Celentis gave an example of a 20-year-old house of his friend, in which it is now dangerous to live, as it is damaged. “The house may have some probability of collapse, it would be good to avoid this until the engineer comes,” he stressed.

In fact, for the entire Heraklion area, he explained that “people have to be careful when they walk the streets,” because any of the aftershocks that occur could cause the building to collapse.

Leccas: the seismic event continues

For his part, OASP President Efthymis Leccas said: “We are dealing with a kind of consistency. We all thought that we were worsening, but, unfortunately, we could not predict natural phenomena, and we were again refuted. We have a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in the southern part of the fault. The earthquake was unexpected, which greatly affected the buildings, and of course there were many aftershocks. I don’t think we can estimate the seismic sequence yet. Aftershocks with a strength of 4.3 – 4.6 and 4.8 points continue. In the evening, at 10:00, the seismic risk assessment committee will meet again, and there we will see, with all the scientific data, where and how this phenomenon occurs. This is a very peculiar phenomenon. “

Papadopoulos: The strength of the earthquake has been increased to 6 on the Richter scale.

According to seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos, the earthquake was increased from 5.8 to 6 on the Richter scale. “All international centers are now assigning a score of 6 to this earthquake,” he says in his Facebook post, pointing out the need for immediate inspection of buildings, especially critical ones (such as schools), and emphasizing that tremors are expected, some of which are expected … and they can be even stronger.

Six out of ten homes were hit by an earthquake

In the Arkalohori area, buildings and infrastructure have been severely damaged. Specifically, an estimated 60% of houses in the city of 8,000 were damaged.

Of the 85 schools, 45 have cracks.

According to cretalive, specialists will conduct analyzes first in schools, then in the city hall and clinic, and then in residential buildings.

At the meeting, it was said that 20-30 villages have big problems, many of which make it impossible for people to live in them. As for the city of Arkalohori, its old part has been destroyed, and the new one has practically not suffered.

Schools will remain closed tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and a question mark will appear on other services. “Of the 85 schools that were answered, 45 have cracks,” said regional education director M. Beladakis, to which the minister replied that no student or teacher would enter them until they were checked.

To date, many damage to buildings in the villages of Russochoria, Archontiko and Pasideros has been recorded at the fire brigade center. Firefighters are already in the area, and the entire state machinery has been mobilized.

Σεισμός στην Κρήτη – Σακελλαροπούλου: Οι σκέψεις μας είναι με τους πληγέντες https://t.co/f8U4cV8kWF # Ant1news @PresidencyGR # σεισμος # Κρητη pic.twitter.com/F0dn199XBN

– Ant1news.gr (@AntennaNews) September 27, 2021

Schools in Heraklion are closing

According to Deputy Regional Minister of Education Efi Kutentaki, schools at all levels in the Heraklion Regional Office will be closed tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to carry out the necessary checks after the earthquake.

Meanwhile, as explained earlier in the day in a related announcement by the Chania Primary Education Authority, schools in Chania are closed as a precautionary measure today, as parents have already been notified to pick up their children from schools.





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