Natural disasters
3. Greece
3.1 Earthquakes
Greece is the most seismic country in Europe
The high seismic activity of the country is due to the fact that it is located at the boundary of the Africa-Eurasia convergence.
The Anatolian plate rotates counterclockwise.
From the west, the Adriatic microplate rotates counterclockwise
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The externa Aegean area is subject to a general
compressional stress field and the inner Aegean area
experiences a general extensional stress field.
Greece often hosts large magnitude earthquakes, whilst a moderate or small magnitude earthquake is felt every 2-3 days on average
Only a few cases have been recorded as «devastating» for the human environment or loss of life
3.2 Volcanoes
Greece has 39 volcanoes. The active ones are arranged in an arc (Greek Volcanic Arc)
and comprise from West to East the volcanoes of: Soussaki, Methane, Milos, Santorini, Yali, Nisyros and Kos
But the most famous volcano in Greece is Santorini
The Minoan eruption happened around 1645 BC and it was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history. It devastated the island of Thera (now called Santorini), including the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri and communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with a related earthquake or tsunami
3.3 Fires
Factors that aggravate fires : temperature, humidity, slope, wind.
The greatest fire that occurred in Thessaloniki happened in 1917
It destroyed two thirds of the city leaving more than 70,000 homeless. The fire burned for 32 hours and destroyed 9,500 houses within an extent of a square kilometer.
The 2007 Forest Fires
A series of massive forest fires that broke out in several areas across Greece throughout the summer of 2007
The death toll in August alone stood at 67 people
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3.4 Floods
Greece has mainly suffered from flash floods. A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins.
It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, tropical storm or meltwater from flowing-over ice sheets or snowfields.
Flash floods can occur in unexpected times and are very deadly concerning
Oraiokastro, our school’s region, has been struck by floods on numerous occasions during the last years. The landscape and high altitude of Oreokastro are the reasons why floods are very susceptible to occur, especially during autumn