Devastating deadly earthquake in Lesvos, Greece - June 12, 2017

Damage report in cooperation with the 2017 Earthquake Impact Database
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Update 16:04 UTC: The Greek Lesvos press reports about an investigation to find the person responsible for spreading rumors that another even more devastating earthquake would happen. Many people went immediately outdoors as they believed these lies. therefore the following :

These RUMORS are TOTAL NONSENSE.
Earthquakes CANNOT be predicted.
NOT in Magnitude, NOT in Location and NOT in time.

Aftershocks are however a normal process as the earth layers are trying to find stability again. These aftershocks may go on for days, weeks and even months. Nobody can however predict them. Make sure that you follow the guidelines as written in this post : BE EARTHQUAKE PREPARED

Update 15:57 UTC:
A few more (important) (tourist industry) messages from Lesvos mayor Spyros Galinos :
** Ι was briefed by the team of engineers that conducted relevant inspections: no damage was incurred to the tourist infrastructure of Lesvos.
** All the hotels in Lesvos, as well as tourist board certified rental rooms, remain in excellent condition.
** Our guests in Lesvos continue to enjoy their vacations; no problems or issues are reported
** No cancellations were reported. On the contrary, what we are experiencing in Lesvos is an increasing number of tourists’ arrivals.
** Lesvos tourism industry pros were getting ready all year. We expect this summer a large number of tourists, from both Greece and abroad.

Update 16:54 UTC: Very good overview map from the European Civil Protection. Map created by the EC-JRC/DG ECHO

Update 15:36 UTC: 800 people are homeless due to collapsed or unsafe houses

Update 15:17 UTC: Spyros Galinos, Mayor of Lesvos reports:
** We are transporting citizens of the heavily damaged village of Vrissa, Lesvos, from the temporary set-ups, to hotel rooms in nearby places.
** The municipality asked for assistance from hotel and rental-room owners in Lesvos; they immediately responded. I am thankful.
** Village presidents+vice mayors worked through the night and all day to collect info on damages to all 73 villages in Lesvos.
** Forty engineers arrived from Athens; they are in charge of crews inspecting buildings and structures. Repair work has already started.
** Greek MEP Thodoris Zagorakis has asked the European parliament to examine the possibility of assistance to Lesvos via the EU Solidarity Fund (looks so logical to us!)
** The municipality is in close cooperation with the Ministry of Citizen's Protection+ Northern Aegean Prefecture in addressing the problems
** Since yesterday we have set-up a 24-hour info center at the New City Hall building: you can call at +30-22513-50.575
** We are working to make sure that we have reliable info of all issues related to yesterday's earthquake and will brief you on it ASAP.
** Many groups+individuals in and outside Greece have reached to Lesvos and offer assistance.We assess needs and will take you upon your offer.
** Lesvos has so many friends around the world, but we don't take you for granted. The people of Lesvos are grateful to you. Thank You.
** The nursing home at Plomari village has been deemed unsafe; the 45 residents are going to be housed in hotel rooms. #Lesvos.
** Commissioner Avramopoulos just contacted me to convey a message of solidarity to Lesvos from the European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker
** “The situation in Lesvos in the aftermath of the earthquake was discussed today at the EU_Commission”, Commissioner Avramopoulos told me.
** “Europe stands in solidarity to Lesvos”, “we will coordinate our support” is the message from EU President Jean Claude Juncker

Update 15:11 UTC: Revised locations of aftershocks outline probable ~20km WNW-ESE offshore fault (Via Robin Lacassin)

Update 07:29 UTC:
** The greater epicenter area got more than 100 aftershocks but luckily only a limited number were felt by the people.
** In Greece the hardest hit village Vrisa is being called a "Ghost Town" due to the almost total devastation of houses and infrastructure
** This earthquake was of course unable to generate Tsunami waves as the Magnitude was not powerful enough (besides a couple of exceptions, the Magnitude needs to be at least M7 of higher)

The lovely village of Vrisa before the earthquake - Image courtesy greece.com

Update 21:53 UTC:
** The number of injured has increased from 11 to 15.
** 500 people had to leave their too badly damages houses. They are partly relocated in private houses and hotels, others are using tents provided by the relief services.
** Aftershocks keep shaking the earth but the strongest ones are luckily around M4. M5 or more will certainly generate more damage.
** 18 structural engineers have arrived on the island and will start tomorrow to inspect al damaged houses. They will decide wether people are still able to safely live in them?.
** Some roads on the island of Lesvos are closed because of rockslides. Engineers will check tomorrow all infrastructure.

Image - Courtesy Protothema Greece

Update 21:46 UTC: Based on the many tweets of the mayor of Lesvos (Lesbos), the village of Vrissa has been hit hardest.

Update 21:45 UTC:
Spyros Galinos (Mayor Lesvos)‏ :
** Most of the houses in the village of Vrissa, Lesvos, have been badly damaged by the earthquake.
** Our fellow citizens in Vrissa who can't stay in their houses will be taken to temporary housing set-up in the football field of Polichnithos.
** EU commissioner @Avramopoulos contacted me; we discussed the activation of the EU’s assistance mechanism for natural disasters.

Spyros Galinos

Understanding the M6.3 Lesbos earthquake
The June 12, 2017 M 6.3 earthquake south of the island of Lesvos, Greece (just off the western coast of Turkey) occurred as a result of normal faulting in the shallow crust. The focal mechanism solution indicates that the earthquake occurred on either a shallow-to-moderately dipping fault striking northwest, or on a moderately dipping fault striking southeast. This earthquake is located within the Anatolian microplate, part of the broader Eurasia plate to the north. Further south, the Africa (Nubia) plate converges with and subducts beneath Eurasia at the Hellenic Trench. To the north and east, the North Anatolian Fault is a major right-lateral transform fault that runs east-west through northern Turkey. The location of this event is several hundred kilometers north of the closest main plate boundary in the region, where the Africa plate moves to the north at a rate of approximately 10 mm/yr with respect to Eurasia, and therefore this earthquake is considered an intraplate event.
The closest similar earthquake was a M 6.5 event in July 1949, about 20 km to the southeast of the June 12, 2017 earthquake.
Source: USGS

Image courtesy "On the Geodynamics of the Aegean rift" - Click on the image to be redirected to the paper.

Update 21:01 UTC: An experience report from;, Jolanda, a tourist from the Netherlands visiting Mytilini with her mother :
"Ik was met mijn moeder een dagje naar Mytilini, we logeren bij Gorona Apartement vlakbij Molyvos. We gingen eten in een restaurant aan de haven, toen alles begon te schudden.Iedereen rende naar buiten, ook het personeel.Het duurde ongeveer een minuut.Eerst begon de vloer te trillen toen het hele gebouw... Op de terugweg via de bergen lagen rotsblokken op de weg , die er op de heenweg niet lagen. Het was heel eng.
Ik hoop dat de gewonden snel opknappen."
--------- translation
"I was with my mother visiting Mytilini on a day trip as we were staying in an apartment near Molyvos. We went to a restaurant at the port when everything started to shake. Everybody ran outside, also the staff. It lasted about a minute. First, the floor began to vibrate followed by the whole building ... On the way back through the mountains rockfall hindered the traffic. It was a very scary experience."

Image courtesy Daily Sabah

Update 18:10 UTC: The mayor confirmed also the news that a woman was safely liberated from below the rubble earlier on

Fortunately, earlier, the fire brigade managed to pull out of a collapsed house in Vrissa-Lesvos, a woman who was transported to a hospital. https://t.co/geh0O2ZMDM

— Spyros Galinos (@SpyrosGalinos) June 12, 2017

Update 17:51 UTC: Sad to report that a 45 year old woman was found dead below the rubble of her collapsed house. This was confirmed by the Mayor of Lesbos, Spyros Galinos, via Twitter.
Additionally we can now report that the number of injured climbed to 11. 2 of them have serious injuries.

Update 16:56 UTC: Message from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras :
Η σκέψη και το ενδιαφέρον μας αυτές τις ώρες, είναι στους κατοίκους των περιοχών που επλήγησαν από τη σεισμική δόνηση στη θαλάσσια περιοχή μεταξύ Χίου και Λέσβου.
Πρώτιστη ανάγκη αυτή τη στιγμή είναι η ασφάλεια των πολιτών. Η καταγραφή των ζημιών θα είναι άμεση και μέριμνά μας είναι η ταχύτερη αποκατάστασή τους.
Στο σημείο σπεύδει άμεσα ο αναπληρωτής Υπουργός Εσωτερικών Νίκος Τόσκας καθώς και κλιμάκια τεχνικών και εμπειρογνωμόνων της Πολιτικής Προστασίας και του Υπουργείου Υποδομών.
-------------- (Facebook/Bing translated)
The thought and these hours are residents of the areas affected by the earthquake in the maritime area between chios and lesbos. First requirement right now is the safety of citizens. The recording of losses will be swift and our concern is the faster their rehabilitation. In point responding directly deputy interior minister Nikos Tóskas ranks and technical experts and civil protection and the ministry of infrastructure.

Update 16:07 UTC: The woman who was buried under the rubble was finally liberated by rescue services. It took them more than 3 hours to get her into safety.

Update 16:06 UTC: Hotel owners and private house owners have been offering rooms for the most affected people.

Update 15:29 UTC: Video's show people in interviews with TV-stations sitting and hanging around against the facade of their houses. This is very dangerous. Make always sure that you are sitting or hanging around in open space. Some aftershocks can be nearly as strong or even stronger than the initial main-shock.

Update 15:04 UTC: The local press is mentioning that 1 woman has been buried under the rubble of a collapsed house. The injury toll still stands at 10.

Update 14:53 UTC: The mayor of Plomari, Manolis Armenakas, told ERT state television: "We have damage to several buildings, old and new". Especially the damage sustained to new buildings is somewhat strange as building codes are very strict in this area of the world and houses should be able to resist even bigger Magnitudes.

Update 14:46 UTC: As could be expected in Greece/Turkey, we wee a lot of aftershocks but so far all below the M5 magnitude

Update 14:31 UTC: First reports are talking about at least 10 people injured

Update 14:22 UTC: The damage we have seen so far was only located on Lesbos, Greece (closest area to the epicenter)

Update 14:11 UTC: Another video from serious damage in Vrisa, Greece a village at the western side of Lesbos (see map below the video). The damage may be a lot bigger than initially thought.

Update 14:05 UTC: To give you an idea how many people felt which kind of shaking, we have included the following screenshots (source USGS). The earthquake was besides Greece, also felt widely in Turkey as even in Bulgaria!

Update 13:52 UTC: First video of a collapsed house on the island of Lesbos

Update 13:51 UTC: The picture below shows the area with the highest risk of serious damage

Update 13:43 UTC: Greek TV is showing pictures of some damage on the coastline close to the epicenter (Plomari area). This is a captured image

Update 13:32 UTC: Today's earthquake is one of the strongest in the same area since 1900 (see bottom map)

Update 13:27 UTC: A more understandable projection of what exactly happened.
Hard to say in this case which from both versions really happened. People who have experienced the earthquake can tell us with the form which of both fault planes they believe really happened.

Main earth movement based on the current focal mechanism. Image courtesy Observatoire Geoscope

Update 13:24 UTC: Focal mechanism of this earthquake. Main motion spreading
Do beach balls looks like Chinese or Latin to you, check this article "Understanding Beach Balls"

Update 13:15 UTC: Professor Max Wyss, who specializes in theoretical prognoses of injuries and fatalities expects :
0 to 70 fatalities
20 to 400 injuries
The difference in between the lower and the higher numbers can be explained by the uncertainty of the exact epicenter and the depth of the hypocenter (breaking point).

Update 13:11 UTC: First (non-specific) reports of damage from Plomari and from the coast of Turkey.

Update 13:10 UTC: seismogram from this earthquake

Update 13:07 UTC: The earthquake's epicenter was luckily approx. 14 km out of the coast with translates in a whole of of difference for potential damage.

Update 13:05 UTC: People living within a radius of approx. 30 km (that's several 10,000 people) can be affected by the earthquake.
Radius Population
75 km 420000 people
50 km 78000 people
20 km 3400 people

Update 13:04 UTC: The shaking at Lesbos was felt as very strong with a lot of thing falling from shelves. We will follow up and will report of any serious damage if we find some.

Update 12:57 UTC: Based on the present earthquake parameters (Magnitude, Depth, Population, etc) and our experience with earthquake damage impact, earthquake-report.com calls this earthquake extremely dangerous with a probability of some limited serious damage

85 km NW of İzmir, Turkey / pop: 2,501,000 / local time: 15:28:37.8 2017-06-12
34 km SW of Mytilíni, Greece / pop: 28,400 / local time: 15:28:37.8 2017-06-12
14 km S of Plomárion, Greece / pop: 3,400 / local time: 15:28:37.8 2017-06-12

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