Important Takeaways:
- Professor Efthymios Lekkas, head of the state-run Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, warned on Sunday that seismic activity on Santorini is expected to continue for an extended period.
- “It will be a prolonged sequence lasting several weeks, possibly even a few months. This type of seismic activity does not subside easily,” he stated in an interview with public broadcaster ERTNews.
- Lekkas further explained that the total number of tremors has already exceeded 20,000 earthquakes. “We are dealing with a unique phenomenon in a unique region. The risk has not been eliminated, just as the risk is never zero anywhere in Greece,” he added.
- While the possibility of a 6.0-magnitude earthquake remains on the table, he said that the likelihood is significantly lower.
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Important Takeaways:
- Greece will soon set up an evacuation port on the island of Santorini to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits the popular tourist destination, a Greek minister said on Monday.
- Santorini, a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea, has been shaken by tens of thousands of mild quakes since late January, forcing thousands of people to flee, and authorities to ban construction activity, and shut schools and nearby islands.
- No major damage has been reported but scientists have said the seismic activity was unprecedented even in a quake-prone country like Greece and have not ruled out bigger tremors.
- They have identified the main ferry port at the foot of a precipitous slope and other sites across Santorini as weak links, although they have not said they cannot be used in an emergency situation.
- Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Greece will build an evacuation port for the safe docking of passenger ferries until a new port infrastructure is in place.
- “This story is not over,” Costas Papazachos, a seismology professor, and a spokesperson for the Santorini quakes told public broadcaster ERT.
- “Both authorities and habitants should get used to a rather unpleasant situation for some time, it could be another two, three months.”
- Seismologists have said the latest seismic activity, the result of moving tectonic plates and magma, has pushed subsurface layers of the island upwards.
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Important Takeaways:
- Since January 31, a series of undersea tremors have been recorded between Santorini and the neighboring islands of Amorgos, Anafi, and Ios, with the strongest- a 5.2-magnitude quake – striking on Wednesday night.
- The near-constant tremors have left residents and tourists terrified, with authorities shutting schools, cordoning off cliff-top towns, and warning of landslides.
- Locals have been urged to stay away from ports and avoid gathering indoors, as emergency crews – including the army, fire service, and police – have been deployed across the island.
- More than 11,000 people have now fled Santorini as the island remains gripped by the relentless earthquakes, with tremors now being recorded minute by minute.
- Experts have warned that the island is facing a ‘seismic crisis’ with no clear end in sight, raising fears of a larger, more destructive quake in the days ahead.
- So far, no injuries or major damage have been reported, but emergency teams are preparing for the worst.
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Important Takeaways:
- A series of earthquakes in the Aegean Sea has raised concerns in Greece and Israel, and officials and experts are taking action to address potential risks.
- Santorini and Amorgos have experienced thousands of tremors since late January. The strongest earthquakes have reached magnitudes of 5.2 to 5.3.
- Experts warn that these tremors could be part of a foreshock sequence, increasing the risk of a stronger earthquake.
- Greek authorities report that more than 7,850 earthquakes have hit the Santorini-Amorgos seismic zone since Jan. 26. The continuous seismic activity has increased the risk of landslides on Santorini’s steep slopes.
- Limited landslides have already hit tourist areas such as Red Beach and the Old Port. Authorities are worried about further rockfalls.
- A state of emergency will remain in effect on the island until March 1.
- Ariel Heimann, a senior geologist at the Institute for National Security Studies… noted that although Israel is over 1,200 kilometers from Santorini, a significant offshore earthquake could still trigger a tsunami capable of reaching Israel’s Mediterranean coast
- Israeli officials are reviewing safety measures, including evacuation plans for coastal cities like Haifa.
- The ongoing tremors keep scientists and authorities on high alert. No one can confirm if a major earthquake or tsunami will strike, but preparedness efforts in Israel and Greece continue to increase to reduce risks.
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Important Takeaways:
- The U.S. embassy in Ukraine cited “specific information of a potential significant air attack” on Wednesday morning, ordering its citizens in the country to shelter in place, as tensions between America and the Russian Federation rise ever higher.
- The American embassy compound in western Kyiv was closed on Wednesday morning, with a convoy of diplomatic vehicles apparently evacuating the buildings. A message posted by the embassy staff stated it had received “specific information of a potential significant air attack” that was thought to be planned for Wednesday. The closure was out of an “abundance of caution”, they said, but nevertheless embassy staff were told to shelter in place and American citizens in Ukraine told to be prepared to take shelter.
- Advice given by the embassy to Americans in Ukraine stated they should now: “Identify shelter locations in advance of any air alert… Immediately take shelter if an air alert is announced”.
- Spain and Greece have also closed their embassies this morning and the British government is considering whether to close theirs, too.
- The so-called “unusual” embassy closure comes just 24 hours after Ukraine launched what appears to be its first U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missile into Russia, as opposed to Russian-occupied land in Ukraine, where such weapons have hitherto been targeted.
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Important Takeaways:
- Thick grey smoke engulfed Mount Pentelicus that dominates Athens on Monday as the Greek capital battled the infernal fallout from what promises to be its hottest summer on record.
- A 30-kilometre (20-mile) long line of fires was moving towards Athens, reports said, and one has already engulfed the mountain, also known as Mount Pentelikon, famed for the marble used in the Acropolis and other ancient buildings in Athens.
- The nearby historic town of Marathon has also been ordered evacuated.
- Brick homes on roads leading out of Marathon had huge black stains up the sides of their walls left by the flames. Their roofs had been turned to cinders.
- “It’s a catastrophe,” said Marathon social worker Maria Kanavaki. “It’s all burnt. There is a fear what will happen. This summer was the hottest. And the water — will we have enough water?” the 55-year-old told AFP.
- Greek authorities have thrown hundreds of firefighters with trucks and water carrying aircraft into what has become an annual battle as global temperatures soar.
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Important Takeaways:
- No Farmers No Food: Greek Tractor Protests Head to Parliament
- Scores of bright-colored tractors were parked outside Greece’s parliament Tuesday, horns blaring, as thousands of farmers angry at high production costs shifted their protests to Athens.
- “Without us, you don’t eat,” one banner said. Some farmers carried mock coffins and funeral garlands as symbols of their plight.
- The farmers – whose demands are similar to those at farmer protests elsewhere in Europe – have spent weeks staging sporadic blockades along highways and in rural towns. Farmers in central Greece are also still reeling from major floods last year.
- Protesters say that’s not enough. They want tax-free fuel, debt forgiveness, measures against foreign competition and speedier compensation for damage from natural disasters. Farmers also criticize the substantial markup in shelf prices compared to what wholesalers pay them for their produce.
- Manolis Liakis, a farmer from the southern island of Crete, singled out fuel costs. He said farmers pay more than three times as much for petrol as shipping companies due to tax disparities.
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Important Takeaways:
- The death toll from severe rainstorms that lashed parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria increased to 14 on Wednesday after rescue teams in the three neighboring countries recovered seven more bodies.
- Greece’s weather service said a Pilion region village received 75.4 centimeters (nearly 30 inches) of rain late Tuesday, by far the highest level recorded since at least 2006. It noted that the average annual rainfall in the Athens region is around 40 centimeters (15.75 inches).
- The storm comes on the heels of major summer wildfires that hit Greece over the past few weeks, with some burning for more than two weeks and destroying vast tracts of forest and farmland. More than 20 people were killed in the fires.
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Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Important Takeaways:
- Rhodes wildfires ‘out of control’ with new evacuations ordered & 10,000 Brits trapped as flames ravage Corfu
- At least 19,000 locals and tourists have already been rescued from the fire-ravaged island in the biggest evacuation effort Greece has ever seen – with up to 10,000 Brits still stranded.
- Terrified holidaymakers have been forced to flee burning hotels, wade through water and sleep on gym floors – with repatriation flights finally arriving on Monday to rush Brits out of the country.
- Wildfires erupted on the island of Corfu – and Level 5 alerts were issued for Crete amid fears of a similar inferno.
- The deputy mayor of Rhodes, Konstantinos Taraslias, said the fires are still burning out of control after seven days of fighting them.
- More than 16,000 people have been evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels – many of them Brits.
- Speaking on Monday morning, Theofanis Skembris, deputy mayor of North Corfu, believes the fires on the island were started deliberately.
- He told the BBC: “There were four fires that started simultaneously.
- “We have to wait for the investigation, but their first unofficial assumption is that it was arson – fires can’t start simultaneously in four different places.
- “The situation in the island is better now. Most of the fires are under control. There are firefighting planes helping.”
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Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’
Important Takeaways:
- Fiery train crash in Greece leaves 36 dead, at least 85 injured
- A fiery train collision in Tempe, Greece, killed 36 people and injured at least 85 others on Tuesday after a passenger train carrying hundreds of people struck an oncoming freight train at high speed.
- Multiple cars derailed and at least three of them burst into flames following the wreck, which occurred just before midnight. Rescue crews illuminated the scene with floodlights as they searched through the smoking debris for survivors.
- Survivors said several passengers were launched through the windows of the train cars because of the impact, while others attempted to free themselves after the passenger train landed in a field next to the tracks near a gorge.
- “Carriage one and two no longer exist, and the third has derailed,”
- It was not immediately clear what led to the collision.
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