Greece: Magnitude 6.4 earthquake turned Vrissa into a ghost town


nsnbc : The earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale, that struck Greek islands in the Aegean Sea on Monday, has turned the idyllic village of Vrissa on the island of Lesbos into what was described as a ghost town. Miraculously, there was only one fatality nd only 11 – 15 people were injured. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras noted that the first concern now is the safety of the citizens.

Greece_Lesbos_Vrissa_Intermediate Housing_Jun 2017The quake struck Monday at 3:28 local time on June 12. The epicenter was about 14 kilometers off Turkey’s coast. More than a hundred aftershocks have been reported since. Most of them, however, could not be felt by the already terrified people in the worst hit areas. The earthquake was one of the strongest in the immediate region since 1900.

The idyllic village of Vrissa on the island of Lesbos sustained so much damage that locals have been describing it as a ghost town. Some 500 houses in the affected area sustained structural damage that made houses unsafe or uninhabitable.

18 structural engineers have arrived in Lesbos on Monday. On Tuesday they will begin to assess the damage to infrastructure. It will also have to be determined which of the houses that sustained damage are safe, repairable, or beyond repair.

Woman in Plomari freed from under the rubble after three hours.

Woman in Plomari freed from under the rubble after three hours.

Spyros Galinos, the Mayor of Lesbos, said that most houses in Vrissa have been badly damaged by the earthquake. He added “Our fellow citizens who can’t stay in their houses will be taken to temporary housing set up on the football field of Polichnithos”.

He added that European Union Commissioner Avramopoulos had contacted him and discussed the activation of the EU assistance mechanism for natural disasters.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stated that his thoughts were with the residents of the affected area between Chios and Lesbos. He stressed that the first priority now is the safety of the citizens. The recording of losses will be done swiftly and our concern is the rehabilitation of the citizens, he said.

Most of the damaged building were old masonry buildings – vulnerable to earthquakes despite rigid building codes – but also part of the charme that attracts thousands of tourists and money to the region.

It may seem like a miracle that the number of injured is limited to 11 – 15 (depending on sources), and that there was only one – although tragic – fatality. Mayor Spyros Galinos confirmed Monday at 17:51 UTC that a 45-year-old woman was found dead under the rubble of her collapsed house.

CH/L – nsnbc 13.06.2017



Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/06/13/greece-magnitude-6-4-earthquake-turned-vrissa-into-a-ghost-town/

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