A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 struck southwestern Greece on Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring more than 100 and flattening dozens of homes, authorities said.
It was Greece’s first fatal earthquake since 1999, when a 5.9 magnitude quake near Athens killed 143 people and left thousands homeless.
Sunday’s quake struck at 3:25pm near the port city of Patras, about 200km west of Athens in the northwestern Peloponnese, and had a shallow epicenter, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said. It was felt as far away as southern Italy.
PHOTO: AFP
By nightfall, six of the 120 injured remained hospitalized, authorities said.
With dozens of houses destroyed or severely damaged, the government said it would give 3,000 euros (US$4,680) as aid to anyone who had lost their primary home in the quake.
“My thoughts in these hours are with our fellow citizens who are suffering,” Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a statement from Vienna, Austria, where he was on a three-day visit. “Along with sadness for all that has happened and for the loss of lives, I want to stress and underline that the state will be at [their] side.”
Karamanlis was to cut his visit to Austria short by two days and return to Greece yesterday.
Frequent aftershocks rattled already frightened residents, and seismologists urged caution, particularly around buildings damaged in the initial quake.
“We are watching the seismic activity with great attention. We are not yet certain that the danger is completely over,” Athens Geodynamic Institute director Gerasimos Papadopoulos said.
Although it was unlikely that there would be a stronger quake, “there is still concern. ... For this reason, and because strong aftershocks are expected, great care must be taken,” Papadopoulos said.
Authorities said they would set up tents for those left homeless and distribute food.
Transport planes, rescue helicopters and a specialized air force rescue crew were on standby, the National Defense General Staff said.
The quake damaged the air traffic control tower of the Andravida military airport, but a secondary tower was being used and the airport remained open, the general staff said.
Two families — seven people in total — were rescued after being trapped in collapsed houses in the village of Fostaina, about 30km south of Patras, and in the village of Vartholomio, authorities said.
Hours after the quake, terrified residents stayed away from their homes, gathering in village squares and outdoor coffee shops. Authorities cordoned off unsafe buildings and ordered all schools in the area to remain shut yesterday.
Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said the damage was relatively light.
“An initial assessment shows we don’t have widespread damage,” Pavlopoulos said. “The consequences of an earthquake of this intensity and at this depth were relatively limited.”
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including