From Crete to Rhodes: a seismologist named the 15 most powerful earthquakes in the history of Greece

Seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos published a list of the 15 largest earthquakes known in the Greek space, with a magnitude of at least 7.2. The reason was reports of a double series of earthquakes in Venezuela.

According to the specialist, for the historical period he used geological, historical and archaeological data, and for events after 1900 – also instrumental seismological observations. Papadopoulos separately emphasizes: estimates of ancient earthquakes are not absolutely accurate and may have errors about ±0.3 magnitude or more.

The list includes only events with a magnitude of at least 7.2. Moreover, the list reflects precisely the strength of the shock, and not the scale of destruction. Therefore, it may not contain known catastrophic earthquakes that were less powerful according to revised estimates, but caused enormous damage due to proximity to populated areas, the depth of the source, or the state of the building.

15 largest earthquakes

227 BC e. — Rhodes, 7.5
142 AD e. — Rhodes, 7.2
365 – western Crete, 8.3
1303 – eastern Crete and Rhodes, 8.0
1481 – Rhodes, 7.2
1609 – Rhodes, 7.4
1829 – Drama and Xanthi, 7.3
1856 – Cretan Sea, 7.6
1867 – Cephalonia, 7.4
1905 – Athos, 7.2
1926 – Rhodes, 7.4
1948 – Karpathos, 7.3
1956 – Amorgos, 7.7
1957 – Rhodes, 7.3
1981 – North Aegean, 7.2

Papadopoulos considers the earthquake to be the strongest earthquake on this list. 365 years near western Crete with a magnitude of 8.3. It is one of the largest events in the eastern Mediterranean and was accompanied by a powerful tsunami that affected the coasts of Crete, Peloponnese, North Africa and Egypt.

Another most powerful modern event was the Amorgos earthquake of 1956 with a magnitude of 7.7, after which a devastating tsunami arose in the Aegean Sea.

Why are some famous disasters not on the list?

Papadopoulos separately explained that the list does not include certain well-known destructive events, including the Chios earthquake in 1881 and the Kefalonia earthquake in 1953. The reason is that their magnitudes, after revision, were below the established threshold of 7.2.

A major earthquake does not always mean the most destructive. The consequences are influenced by the depth of the source, distance to cities, quality of buildings, time of day, secondary landslides, fires and tsunami risk. Therefore, historical magnitude and human tragedy do not always coincide in the same rating.

Editorial comment

This list is important not to scare people with figures from antiquity, but to remind the obvious: Greece lives in one of the most active seismic regions in Europe. An earthquake cannot be canceled by order, postponed until better times, or defeated by a ministry briefing.

But you can build according to standards, inspect old buildings, not turn schools and hospitals into a lottery, support civil protection services and not remember about earthquake resistance only after the first strong shock. Alas, this requires boring system work, and not a beautiful television background with a map of the epicenter.

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