Earthquake in Greece: antiquity and our days

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

From time immemorial, the fertile lands of Greece have been subject to such misfortune as earthquakes. The “almighty” person is unable to influence the pranks of mother nature, but can only predict some future disasters. An earthquake in Greece is not uncommon, but it is not a common occurrence either.

Greece from the point of view of seismologists

Increased tectonic activity in this zone is due to the fact that Greece is located exactly where two lithospheric plates meet: the Eurasian and African. Their merger began 50 million years ago and continues to this day.

The most seismically active region of the Mediterranean is the southern part of Greece, under which there is a volcanic arc that causes faults in the earth's crust.

Before the invention of seismic instruments, Greek scientists for many centuries in a row kept a kind of chronicle of earthquakes, according to which these lands were shaking with enviable regularity.

The most famous and terrible earthquakes in Greece

According to the writings of Plutarch and other famous ancient Greek historians, in 464 BC, a monstrousearthquake that claimed more than 20,000 lives. This event triggered a slave uprising and caused the Little Peloponnesian War.

An earthquake in Greece on the island of Rhodes, which occurred in 226 BC, caused the destruction of one of the seven wonders of the world - the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes.

The Greeks have a legend about the fate of the old statue, which also fell apart from strong tremors. The wise elders did not consider this a coincidence and predicted that after the completion of the third version of the Colossus, a powerful earthquake in Greece would hide Rhodes under water.

Interesting, but there really are projects to revive this wonder of the world. How right the ancients were is anyone's guess.

In the summer of 365, a powerful tsunami swept through the southeast of the Mediterranean Sea and claimed tens of thousands of lives. This natural disaster was caused by high tectonic activity near the island of Crete.

After almost a thousand years, in 1303, this area was again subjected to a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of about 8 on the Richter scale. About 10,000 people died, many buildings, including the Lighthouse of Alexandria, were seriously damaged.

Are there earthquakes in Greece nowadays?

September 7, 1999 tremors 5, 9 points were observed in the heart of Greece - Athens. Tens of thousands of citizens were left without a roof over their heads, 143 people became victims of the elements.

In January 2006, an earthquake occurred in Kitira, in 2008 - onPeloponnese and Dodecanese Islands, in 2014 - on Lemnos.

The last increased seismic activity was noted on the night of September 27, 2016 on the same long-suffering island of Rhodes.

Thanks to modern equipment, an earthquake in Greece, like in any other corner of the planet, can be predicted. This allows timely evacuation and avoid unnecessary casu alties.