Greece and Earthquakes

Of all natural disasters, the second most commonly occurring one in Greece are earthquakes. However that being said, earthquakes actually are the number one natural disaster in terms of their mortality rate. Furthermore, earthquakes in Greece are also the natural disaster that cause the highest percentage of economic by a substantial margin. (1) In the past 365 days alone, Greece has experienced 116 earthquakes, the largest one being a 5.5 magnitude in Kalpaki. (2)

(Charts of Greece's natural disaster mortality and economic issue rate)

To preface, seismicity is defined as "the worldwide distribution of earthquakes in space, time, and magnitude... the measure of the frequency of earthquakes in a region." (3) Every region of the earth has its own specified and measured seismicity, monitors in put in place to track seismic activity. Greece's seismicity is one of the most active among the regions of the world, actually ranking as the sixth most active region globally, and even considered the most seismically active part of Europe. (4) Even before Greece's seismic activity was scientifically monitored and measured, the country had been notorious for its deadly earthquakes, even being recorded by ancient accounts as far back at 550 BCE.

(Destruction of a theater in the ancient Greek city of Cyrene, by an earthquake that occurred in a 365 AD earthquake)

Because earthquakes have been so prevalent in Greece for centuries, the country has put into place different plans for how people can be safe in the event of one. For example, the country has two main axes of antiseismic policy which are "the pre-earthquake of measures of prevention, preparedness, and awareness" as well as "the measures after the occurrence of an earthquake for the effective treatment and management of emergencies. (5) There are two different services that have been made to implement these axes which are the Organization for Antiseismic Planning and Protection, which focuses on the pre-measures, and the The Earthquake Rehabilitation Service for after. The organizations' goals are to gather relevant scientific seismic information, to establish regular seismic monitoring, and to promote social awareness of seismic risks through public awareness, educational programs, and training workshops. On a literal level, these organizations have established a requirement for an enhancement in "seismic capacity of the constructed environment," meaning buildings and houses. (6)


Sources:

• Image 1: http://www.preventionweb.net/countries/grc/data/

• Image 2: http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami365ADeEastMedSea.html

• Source 1: http://www.preventionweb.net/countries/grc/data/

• Source 2: earthquaketrack.com/p/greece/recent

• Source 3: https://www.britannica.com/science/seismicity

• Source 4:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226748777_Seismicity_and_Seismic_Hazard_Assessment_in_Greece

• Source 5 and 6: http://www.misrar.nl/UserFiles/File/Good_practice_epirus%20earthquake.pdf