OASP President Efthimis Lekkas spoke about the strong earthquake in Gaziantep, Turkey.

“We are dealing with a very strong earthquake measuring about 7.8 on the Richter scale, which caused very significant damage,” the professor of geology told ERT.

In addition, Mr. Lekkas calculated, speaking to APE-MPE, that this earthquake will not affect the faults in the Greek area and is not related to the seismic vibration that occurred in the early morning in Rhodes with a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter scale.

It’s not Anatoly’s fault

“I believe that both the damage and the victims will be many times greater. This earthquake occurred on a kilometer-long fault that starts at the Dead Sea and ends in the central part of Turkey. It’s not Anatoly’s fault. This is the western fault that limits the intrusion of the African Plate into Turkey. […] and produced aftershocks measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale,” Lekkas added.

As he pointed out, “We still have no idea about the affected area. We are in the readiness phase for a scientific and operational assessment of what needs to be done.”

Big Consequences

According to Mr. Lekki, the consequences will be great because the earthquake hit at 4 am and the buildings are much lower than ours.

“While the (anti-land) regulations in Turkey seem modern, they have nothing to do with our own earthquakes. They are characterized by exaggeration without earthquake resistance with poor quality building materials. These are buildings with a very high vulnerability to small earthquakes. Imagine the devastation that has taken place in this area.

The earthquake in Rhodes has nothing to do with the earthquake in Turkey

Speaking of the 4.2 Richter earthquake that hit Rhodes at dawn, Mr. Lekkas said the quake had nothing to do with Turkey.

“We are monitoring the development of the phenomenon. I don’t think we will have any problems,” he added.

It is noted that according to the Geodynamic Institute, an earthquake in Rhodes was recorded shortly before 4 am, 11 km northwest of Archangelos, with a focal depth also of 10 km.

Source: ERT, APE-BE.