Report on Earthquake in Greece

On Sunday January 8, 2006, a strong earthquake striked the south of Greece in the sea along the Hellenic arc, between the islands of Crete and Kythera.

It was so strong that it could be felt throughout Eastern Mediterranean Basin from Italy to Croatia and as far away as Egypt, Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Jordan. It is believed it is one of the strongest earthquake that ever striked Greece, reaching a magnitude of 6.7.

Most earthquakes in this particular region of the Greek Arc involves reverse as well as strike slip motion and some normal faulting motion of crustal plates. This earthquake, however, involved inverse but mostly lateral movement.

The African plate was estimated to have moved towards the northern direction by about 90 centimetres in relation to the Aegean Sea plate and to have subducted beneath it.

The earthquake had damaged the airport facilities and 80 homes on the Island of Kithira. On Crete, a wall collapsed in a cafeteria in the port town of Hania without any injuries.

Two churches were also damaged in the village of Ayios Nikolaos in Lakonia and Mitata, while minor damage was reported on the southeastern Aegean island of Karpathos.

The Government initially put the armed forces and emergency services on high alert but reduced the level later, as only minor damages and injuries were reported.

Personally, I hope that every natural disaster would only cause minor damages just like this. Unfortunately, it is not so. Hence, to take precaution towards these events, I think the Government should build less high-rise buildings and buildings with stronger materials and better foundations so that they do not easily collapse.

Although the chances are very low for another disaster to strike, we must still take precaution and be prepared for anything that is going to come in our way in the future.

Bibliography:

George Pararas-Carayannis, http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Earthquake2006Greece.html, 26 February 2010

Gina Pace, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/08/world/main1187465.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody, 28 February 2010

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