Earthquake in Greece: antiquity and our days

From time immemorial the fertile lands of Greece were subject to such an affliction as earthquakes. "Almighty" man can not affect the pranks of Mother Nature, and can only predict some future disasters. An earthquake in Greece is not uncommon, but it can not be called an ordinary affair.

Greece in terms of seismologists

Increased tectonic activity in this zone is due to the fact that Greece is located exactly where two lithospheric plates are joined: the Eurasian and African plates. Their merger began another 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, which causes faults in the earth's crust.

Before the invention of seismic devices, Greek scientists for many centuries conducted a kind of chronicle of earthquakes, according to which the earth shook with enviable regularity.

The most famous and terrible earthquakes in Greece

According to the works of Plutarch and other well-known ancient Greek historians, in 464 BC a huge earthquake took place in Sparta, which claimed more than 20,000 human lives. This event served as an impetus to the slave uprising and became the cause of the Minor Peloponnesian War.

The earthquake in Greece on the island of Rhodes, which occurred in 226 BC, was the cause of the destruction of one of the seven wonders of the world - a 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 old men did not consider this a coincidence and predicted that at the end of the third version of the Colossus, a powerful earthquake in Greece would hide Rhodes under water.

Interestingly, there are indeed projects to revive this miracle of the world. As far as the ancient ones were right - it remains to be only guessing.

In the summer of 365 the strongest tsunami swept across 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 site was again subjected to a powerful earthquake of magnitude 8 magnitude on the Richter scale. About 10,000 people died, many buildings, including the Alexandria lighthouse, were seriously damaged.

Are there earthquakes in Greece in our time?

On September 7, 1999, an earthquake of 5.9 points was observed in the heart of Greece - Athens. Tens of thousands of citizens were left without a roof over their heads, 143 people were victims of the disaster.

In January 2006, an earthquake occurred in Kythira, in 2008 - in the Peloponnese and the Dodecanese Islands, in 2014 - in 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 foreseen. This allows for timely evacuation and avoid unnecessary casualties.