FIELD OBSERVATIONS OF THE 2015 (NOVEMBER 17, MW 6.4) LEFKAS (IONIAN SEA, WESTERN GREECE) EARTHQUAKE IMPACT ON NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING STOCK OF LEFKAS ISLAND


Published: Jul 27, 2016
Keywords:
Ionian Islands strike-slip earthquake active tectonics earthquake environmental effects earthquake-induced building damage
E. Lekkas
S. Mavroulis
V. Alexoudi
Abstract

On Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 07:10:07 (UTC) a strong earthquake struck Lefkas Island (Ionian Sea, Western Greece) with magnitude Mw 6.4, depth of about 7 km and epicenter located 20 km southwest of Lefkas town. The seismic activity in the region was essentially expected after the 2003 Lefkas earthquake and the 2014 Cephalonia earthquakes. Between these earthquake affected areas, the tectonic stresses were not released after the 1948 Lefkas earthquakes. Instead, they were intensifying and accumulating until the generation of the 2015 event. It was felt in Lefkas and the surrounding region and caused the death of 2 people, the injury of 8 others, earthquake environmental effects (EEE) and damage to buildings and infrastructure. Secondary EEE were observed in western Lefkas and included ground cracks, slope movements and liquefaction. Primary effects were not detected in the field. Buildings damage were mainly observed in villages of Dragano-Athani graben in southwestern Lefkas. Among structures constructed with no seismic provisions, the stone masonry buildings and monumental structures suffered most damage, while the traditional buildings with dual structural system performed relatively well. Reinforced-concrete buildings were affected not so much by the earthquake itself but by the generation of secondary effects.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Geophysics and Seismology
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Anderson, H. and Jackson, J., 1987. Active tectonics of the Adriatic region, Geophys. J. R. Astron.
Soc., 91, 937-983.
Anzidei, M., Baldi, P., Casula, G., Crespi, M. and Riguzzi, F., 1996. Repeated GPS surveys across
the Ionian Sea: evidence of crustal deformations, Geophys. J. Int., 127, 257-267.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), 2015. Permanent Regional Seismological Network
operated by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, doi: 10.7914/SN/HT.
Aubouin, J., 1959. Contribution a l’étude géologique de la Grèce septentrional: le confins de l’ Epire
et de la Thessalie, Annales Geologiques des Pays Helleniques, 10, 1-483.
Bornovas, J., 1964. Géologie de l' île de Lefkade, Geological. and Geophysics Research (I.G.S.R.),
(1), 142 pp.
BP Co, 1971. The geological results of petroleum exploration in western Greece, Institute of
Geology Subsurface Research, Athens, 10, 73 pp.
Cocard, M., Kahle, H.-G., Peter, Y., Geiger, A., Veis, G., Felekis, S., Billiris, H. and Paradissis, D.,
New constraints on the rapid crustal motion of the Aegean region: recent results
inferred from GPS measurements (1993-1998) across the West Hellenic Arc, Greece, Earth
Planet. Sci. Lett., 172, 39-47.
Cushing, M., 1985. Evolution structurale de la marge nord-ouest hellénique dans l’île de Lefkas et
ses environs (Grèce nord-occidentale), Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. d’ Orsay.
Hollenstein, C.H., Geiger, A., Kahle, H.G. and Veis, G., 2006. CGPS time-series and trajectories of
crustal motion along the West Hellenic Arc, Geophys. J. Int., 164(1), 182-191.
Hollenstein, C.H., Müller, M.D., Geiger, A. and Kahle, H.-G., 2008. Crustal motion and deformation
in Greece from a decade of GPS measurements 1993-2003, Tectonophysics, 449, 17-40.
IGRS-IFP, 1966. Etude geologique de l'Epire, Technip, 306 pp., Paris.
Jackson, J.A. and McKenzie, D.P., 1988. The relationship between plate motions and seismic
moment tensors, and the rates of active deformation in the Mediterranean and Middle East,
Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc., 93, 45-73.
Jacobshagen, V., 1986. Geologie von Griechenland. Berlin: Gebruder Bornträger, 363 pp.
Jenny, S., Goes, S., Giardini, D. and Kahle, H.-G., 2004. Earthquake recurrence parameters from
seismic and geodetic strain rates in the eastern Mediterranean, Geophys. J. Int., 157, 1331-1347.
Karakostas, C., Lekidis, V., Makarios, T., Salonikios, T., Sous, I. and Demosthenous, M., 2005.
Seismic response of structures and infrastructure facilities during the Lefkas, Greece
earthquake of 14/8/2003, Engineering Structures, 27, 213-227.
Kiratzi, A. and Langston, C., 1991. Moment tensor inversion of the January 17, 1983 Kefallinia
event of Ionian Islands (Greece), Geophys. J. Int., 105, 529-535.
Kouris, L.A.S. and Kappos A.J., 2015. Fragility Curves and Loss Estimation for Traditional Timber-
Framed Masonry Buildings in Lefkas, Greece. In: Psycharis, I.N. et al. (eds.), Seismic
Assessment, Behavior and Retrofit of Heritage Buildings and Monuments, Computational
Methods in Applied Sciences, 12, 199-233, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-16130-3_8.
Le Pichon, X., Chamot-Rooke, N. and Lallemant, S., 1995. Geodetic determination of the kinematics
of central Greece with respect to Europe: implications for eastern Mediterranean tectonics,
Journal of Geophysical Research, 100(B7), 12675-12690.
Lekkas, E., Danamos, G. and Lozios, S., 1999. Analytical study of seismicity, seismic hazard and
geotechnical conditions of Lefkada with emphasis in the area of the town and the west coast.
Applied Scientific Research Programm, Department of Dynamic Tectonic Applied Geology,
University of Athens (in Greek).
Lekkas, E., Danamos, G. and Lozios, S., 2001. Neotectonic structure and evolution of Lefkas Island,
Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 34(1), 157-163.
Lekkas, E., Danamos, G., Lozios, S., Skourtsos, E. and Verykiou, E., 2004. The geographic distribution
of landslides of Lefkas earthquake (August 14 2003) and factors affecting their generation, 10th
International Congress of the Greek Geological Society, Extended Abstracts, 130-131.
Lekkas, E.L and Mavroulis, S.D., 2015a. Earthquake environmental effects and ESI 2007 seismic
intensities of the early 2014 Cephalonia (Ionian Sea, western Greece) earthquakes (January
and February 3, Mw 6.0), Nat Hazards, 78, 1517-1544.
Lekkas, E.L and Mavroulis, S.D., 2015b. Fault zones ruptured during the early 2014 Cephalonia
Island (Ionian Sea, Western Greece) earthquakes (January 26 and February 3, Mw 6.0) based
on the associated co-seismic surface ruptures, J. Seismol., doi: 10.1007/s10950-015-9510-3.
Louvari, E., Kiratzi, A.A. and Papazachos, B.C., 1999. The Cephalonia Transform Fault and its
extension to western Lefkada Island (Greece), Tectonophysics, 308, 223-236.
Makarios, T. and Demosthenous, M., 2006. Seismic response of traditional buildings of Lefkas
Island, Greece, Engineering Structures, 28, 264-278.
Makarios, T. and Demosthenous, M., 2015. Earthquake Response of Historic Buildings at Lefkas
Island. In: Ruggieri, N. et al., eds., Historical Earthquake-Resistant Timber Frames in the
Mediterranean Area, 149-156, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16187-7_12.
Makropoulos, K.C. and Burton, P.W., 1984. Greek tectonics and seismicity, Tectonophysics, 106,
-304.
Margaris, B., Papaioannou, C., Theodulidis, N., Savvaidis, A., Anastasiadis, A., Klimis, N., Makra,
K., Demosthenous, M., Karakostas, C., Lekidis, V., Makarios, T., Salonikios, T., Sous, I.,
Carydis, P., Lekkas, E., Lozios, S., Skourtsos, E. and Damanos, G., 2003. Preliminary
observations on the August 14, 2003, Lefkada Island (Western Greece) Earthquake, EERI,
Special Earthquake Report, Nov. 2003.
Mariolakos, I. and Papanikolaou, D., 1981. The neogene basins of the Aegean Arc from the
paleogeographic and the geodynamic point of view, In: Proceedings of the International
Symposium Hellenic Arc and Trench (HEAT), I, 383-399.
Mariolakos, I. and Papanikolaou, D., 1987. Deformation pattern and relation between deformation
and seismicity in the Hellenic arc, Bull Geol Soc Greece, XIX, 59-76.
Mercier, J., Sorel, D. and Simeakis, K., 1987. Changes in the state of stress in the overriding plate of a
subduction zone: the Aegean Arc from the Pliocene to the Present, Ann. Tectonicae, 1(1), 20-39.
Papadimitriou, E.E., 1993. Focal mechanism along the convex side of the Hellenic Arc, Boll. Geof.
Teor. Appl., 35, 140, 401-426.
Papanikolaou, D., Bargathi, H., Dabovski, C., Dimitriu, R., El-Hawat, A., Ioane, D., Kranis, H., Obeidi,
A., Oaie, G., Seghedi, A. and Zagorchev, I., 2004. Transect VII: East European Craton -
Scythian Platform - Dobrogea - Balkanides - Rhodope Massif - Hellenides - East Mediterranean
- Cyrenaica. In: The TRANSMED Atlas - The Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle -
Geological and Geophysical Framework of the Mediterranean and the Surrounding Areas,
Editors: Cavazza, W., Roure, F., Spakman, W., Stampfli, G.M., Ziegler, P.A.
Most read articles by the same author(s)