Week 3: Earthquakes

 
Week 3: Earthquakes

   
     At least once a year from 2017 to 2021, Greece has fallen victim to an Earthquake at magnitude 5.3 or higher. There was seven earthquakes total over that five year span, six of which actually exceeding t he 6.0 mark, nearly tip toeing the line of serious damage to the country. 

Fun fact, we get the word "seismic" from the Greek root word, "seismos." 

List of earthquakes in Greece - Wikipedia
Greece Earthquake map 1900 - 2017

As you can see Greece is no stranger to seismic activity, in fact Greece is actually not only one of the most seismically active countries in Europe, but the world as well. Although they are common, luckily for the Grecians, most of their Earthquakes are generally mild. The nearby country of Turkey is known for taking more of the Earthquake damage despite sharing nearly all the same fault-lines. Turkey has much less strict building and structural requirements and standards. Greece's constant quakes led the Greek builders to establish multiple ways of keeping Greece architecturally sound and stable when the threats of earthquakes occur. Greece also established a government body within it's system called, the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, in specific effort to combat the issue head on. The EPPO has a five steps plan for citizens to use as a guideline to generally stay safe. 

Crete is one of Greece's well known seismic hotspots, as many of the countries earthquakes occur just south of Crete, where  the Aegean Sea Plate slides over the top of the African plate. This earthquakes start in the ocean, but luckily again for Greek people, these earthquakes are not usually threat to cause Tsunamis. 

The Hellenic Subduction zone is where many of these Earthquakes occur. The many Greek Islands are often the most effected by seismic activity, specially the islands of Lefkada, Ithaca, and Kefalonia. All three of those islands listed, as well as other Greek Ionian islands have been hit with deadly earthquakes in the past. 
TMap of the Aegean region showing the surface projection of the Hellenic... | Download Scientific Diagram

Additional Info: An Unlikely Team 

A major Earthquake recently struck Turkey, causing tragic damage and death in the country. Due to this, Greece and Turkey's previously rocky and tension filled relationship has been temporarily put to rest as the two countries deal with these national disasters together. Greece has been offering much aid and relief efforts to Turkey as they go through this unstable time. This has happened before, in 1999, a major earthquake hit the Turkish city of Izmit, during a particularly unstable time in the relationship between the countries. The disaster ended up bringing the countries closer together, as many people hope comes as a sliver lining of this current earthquake crisis. 


Sources:
https://www.propertyguides.com/greece/news/protecting-family-home-earthquakes/

https://www.worlddata.info/europe/greece/earthquakes.php

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=25.56227,-0.04395&extent=49.43956,47.72461

https://greekreporter.com/2022/12/29/areas-earthquake-risk-greece/
 

Comments

  1. Trey SalcidoFebruary 10, 2023 at 2:56 PM

    Learning more about Greece and the earthquakes that occur there was very interesting. They seem to be a very proactive country when it comes to earthquakes, that is great. My country, Haiti, has fallen behind in being prepared for earthquakes but they are working on improving.

    ReplyDelete

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