“The issue is how prepared we are for it,” the Professor of Natural Disasters emphasized
A terrifying prediction was made by Kostas Synolakis for the possibility of a very large earthquake in Greece. “At some point we will have a big earthquake in the Greek arc. The issue is how prepared are we for it” emphasized the Professor of Natural Disasters and Academic, speaking on her show ERT “Studio 4”. He analyzed the possibility of an 8.5 magnitude earthquake in Greece, based on historical data and observations.
“If you go to the Archaeological Museum of Chania you will see that there is an exhibit that talks about the very big one earthquake which took place in western Crete in 365 AD. And where do we know this earthquake? From the descriptions… It is then that Alexandria disappears as a global city.
Alexandria was until then the center of at least Greek civilization. (…) It disappears (i.e. Alexandria) because it is completely destroyed by a large tsunami, which is created by this earthquake. And we can know how big this earthquake was from the tectonic opening. That is, there are places in western Crete, e.g. in Falasarna, which is an amazing natural beach, where there is an old port which has been raised and is 8 meters above the sea. How did it go up? In Sfakia you see the old coastline which is two meters, that is, they rose two meters above the surface. You can see it too, you don’t have to be a geologist,” Synolakis said.
Thanasis Anagnostopoulos, who presents the said show with Nancy Zampetoglou, wanted to ask about the possibility of such a big earthquake, 8.5 Richter: “Of course (s.s. there is this possibility). How is the magnitude of the earthquake calculated? The geologists say that in order to have made these observations (…) there you say what kind of earthquake is the one that can make such displacements – that we see them even now and what size it was. The answer is about 8.5 points.”
“It’s a scripted statistic because it’s happened before. It’s an indication, not a prediction. The fact that it has happened before, this is the indication that it can happen again” explained Mr. Synolakis.