Cephalonia in state of emergency

The Interior Minister Yiannis Mihelakis, who went to Argostoli on Sunday, said that the island was declared in state of emergency following Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ order.
“Our aim is life to return to normal as soon as possible,” Mihelakis said adding that the state of emergency was declared mostly to overcome bureaucratic problems. “Damages existed, but fortunately the

island resisted, we did not have any victims, only light injuries and this is very encouraging.”
The Interior Minister said that a special team headed by civil engineers has started inspections in the buildings since early in the morning. Inspections have started from the hospitals, the health centres, the schools and the public organisations that are open on daily basis.
“Schools will remain closed until the static condition of the buildings have been thoroughly checked,” Mihelakis noted.
Mihelakis noted that some people remain outside their houses and the weather conditions are worsening adding that the Superfast 1 ferry, which can host 700 people, has already arrived to the island while Eleftherios Venizelos, that can host 1,500, is expected to arrive to the island shortly.
Forty-five aftershocks ranging from 3 to 5.1 on the Richter scale were recorded on Cephalonia until 9:00 on Monday morning, following Sunday’s 5.9 Richter-scale earthquake that hit the Ionian island.
“The positive thing is that we have had a series of smaller quakes indicating that the seismic activity is easing, with over twenty aftershocks over 4.5 on the Richter scale and hundreds below that. The depth is very small at approximately 10 km,” said University of Athens (UoA) professor of Geology Efthimios Lekkas, speaking to Skai TV on Monday.
“Due to the area’s seismic history, it may take a week for seismologists to define whether the tremor was the main one,” said UoA emeritus professor of seismology Constantinos Markopoulos.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki professor of seismology Costas Papazahos said on Sunday evening that “with the collected data we can’t say whether the 5.8 tremor was the main one,” adding that the scientists need 48 hours at least to make an assessment, given that the area is extremely active seismically,” adding the aftershocks will continue for a month at least.
The island has been declared in state of emergency in order to accelerate the restoration and emergency assistance to be accelerated. Building inspections are currently under way, with priority to schools and public buildings.
Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said that the two hospitals that are on the island have been checked and no damages have been found, although some surgery patients had to be transferred.
General secretaries from all ministries have convened for a midday meeting on Monday at Cephalonia.

source: ΑΜΝΑ