Saturday, April 15, 2006

Latest Newspaper Report

More than 20 aftershocks hit island but experts say worst may be over

After being struck by a series of powerful earthquakes in previous days, Zakynthos experienced some 20 aftershocks yesterday, the largest of which measured 4.5 Richter. Seismologists said they expected the aftershocks to continue for a short while but did not forecast any powerful quakes to hit the Ionian island in the immediate future.

Earthquakes Update

We have spent the last three nights sleeping in the car. The earthquakes have continued but , they appear to have died down slightly. We have had about four or five so far today but nothing above a "4". I can cope with that. The last bout of quakes, which I did not report on, saw our biggest yet which was 6.1 or 6.2 depending upon who you speak to and which TV station you watch. The island was also put on a 24 hour crisis alert. I really hope that we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Moving away from the island would break my heart but currently it is a very real possibility.
My work have been superb, my boss has basically said take as much time as I need, a week or two and get away if needs be. It was so nice to hear. This week Justine actually started working for PokerStars as well but her training has obviously been interrupted by this. I have not told work but, assuming we do not have a big one tonight, we will start back again tomorrow. If we do, then I think we will be taking a break for a week and getting off the island, possibly to Athens, maybe to London and work from there or maybe a holiday or something. This thing really is driving me crazy.
Sometimes I feel very selfish forgetting things and being concerned with our own worries but for us, they are very real and happening now. I do of course realize that we are a lot more fortunate than many people around the world.
Keep Safe
Simon

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

More Details

Taken from a website. It is actually about 30 earthquakes in total now...
A strong earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook the western Greek Ionian island of Zakynthos Tuesday, the fourth earthquake to strike the region within 24-hours, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the Athens News Agency said.
The underwater earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit at 20:29 (1829 GMT), with an epicentre 240 kilometres east of the Greek capital Athens.
Three smaller earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.7, 4.7 and 4.4 struck the Ionion islands in the early hours Tuesday.
Residents were alarmed throughout the island, and many rushed in a panic outside their homes.
'We follow closely the latest developments which we see as not being normal,' said seismologist Giorgos Stavrakakis.
There was no major damage from the earlier earthquakes according to Zakynthos, Mayor Dimitris Gasparos, but only slight damage to two bridges.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Horror 12 hours

We have had about 40 minutes sleep since yesterday morning. Shortly after going to bed the first earthquake hit and the continued all night, the highest being a huge 5.7 (although the normal site I look at declared it as a 5.4). It really was as scary a 12 hours as I have had in my life. Most of the night was spent outside.

Justine was mean to start work today but we had to ask for it to be put back. I love my life here so much but I can't live in constant fear like this.

Date & Time UTC Lat/Long Mag. Region name
2006-04-11 07:07:40.0 37.72 N 20.91 3.4 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-11 04:10:48.0 37.63 N 20.83 3.1 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-11 02:03:28.0 37.79 N 20.93 3.1 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-11 01:02:36.3 37.64 N 20.93 3.7 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-11 00:56:45.0 37.83 N 20.88 3.0 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-11 00:40:11.0 37.35 N 20.05 3.0 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-11 00:23:34.0 37.66 N 21.09 3.4 SOUTHERN GREECE
2006-04-11 00:02:39.9 37.66 N 20.90 5.4 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-10 21:21:24.3 37.62 N 21.01 4.3 SOUTHERN GREECE
2006-04-10 21:10:19.9 37.70 N 20.89 3.6 IONIAN SEA
2006-04-10 21:21:24.3 37.62 N 21.01 4.3 SOUTHERN GREECE
2006-04-10 21:10:19.9 37.70 N 20.89 3.6 IONIAN SEA

All details taken from my usual Earthquake website

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Short Update

A fairly quick one again as I am about to go fishing for the afternoon.
Only real things of note over the last month have been a couple of sizeable earthquakes, the last of which was last night and measured 5.7. What made it worse was that the epicentre appeared to be only a couple of kilometres away so it did feel pretty bad. Whilst it is not the biggest one we have had, it is the first time I have gone under the bed for cover. Someone needs to remind me why I love this place so much! We have also had four aftershocks today although luckily they have not been huge.
The weather has been great over the last week or so which means it is time to start tanning a little...
Anyway, coffee and fishing at Keri beckons.
Keep Safe