The March 2021 Thessaly earthquakes and their impact through the prism of a multi-hazard approach in disaster management


Spyridon Mavroulis
Maria Mavrouli
Panayotis Carydis
Konstantinos Agorastos
Efthymis Lekkas
Περίληψη

In early March 2021, when Greece was struggling with the evolving third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with the highest numbers of daily cases and fatalities from its initiation, Thessaly was struck by a seismic sequence, which included the 3 March, Mw = 6.3 mainshock, its strongest Mw = 6.1 aftershock the following day and numerous large aftershocks. The mainshock caused extensive damage to houses and infrastructure, while the aftershock aggravated damage and caused widespread concern among residents. Based on post-event field surveys in the affected area, it is concluded that the old unreinforced houses with load-bearing masonry walls in the northeastern part of the Thessaly basin suffered the most, while the recent constructions remained intact. As a result, hundreds of homeless were in need of immediate temporary sheltering, which immediately mobilized the Civil Protection authorities to manage the emergency situation. This emergency had something unique, which made its management a challenge: the implementation of the earthquake emergency response actions was incompatible with the measures to limit the further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community during the evolving third pandemic wave. Many of the actions have been adapted to the unprecedented conditions through a prism of a multi-hazard approach to disaster management and their impact. Among others, more and different types of emergency shelters were used to prevent overcrowding, emergency supplies distribution processes were modified to prevent transmission through hands and surfaces, places for the identification and isolation of suspected COVID-19 cases were designated in emergency shelters and extensive and regular screening testing of the local population was conducted for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. From the analysis of the daily reported COVID-19 cases in the earthquake-affected area during the pre- and post- disaster periods as well as from results of rapid testing during the post-disaster period, it was found that the viral load of the earthquake-affected villages was not increased, despite the difficult and unprecedented conditions. It can be suggested that the adaptation of the measures to the new conditions has worked beneficially to reduce the spread of the new virus among those affected and the involved staff. For this reason, this approach could be considered as good practice and important lesson learned, which can be applied to similar future compound emergencies in areas with similar geoenvironmental and epidemiological characteristics.

Λεπτομέρειες άρθρου
  • Ενότητα
  • Φυσικές Καταστροφές
Λήψεις
Τα δεδομένα λήψης δεν είναι ακόμη διαθέσιμα.
Αναφορές
Caputo, R., Chatzipetros, A., Pavlides, S., Sboras, S., 2012. The Greek Database of Seismogenic Sources (GreDaSS): State-of-the-art for northern Greece. Annals of Geophysics, 55, 859-894.
Caputo, R., Pavlides, S., 1993. Late Cainozoic geodynamic evolution of Thessaly and surroundings (central-northern Greece). Tectonophysics, 223, 339-362.
Cetin, K.O., Mylonakis, G., Sextos, A., Stewart, J.P., et al., 2021. Seismological and Engineering Effects of the M 7.0 Samos Island (Aegean Sea) Earthquake. Report GEER-069; Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association: Alameda County, CA, USA, http://dx.doi.org/10.18118/G6H088.
García Garmendia, J.L., Ramírez Arcos, M., Barrero Almodóvar, A.E., Chávez Caballero, M., Jorge Amigo, V., Serrano Martino, M.C., 2020. Detección viral y respuesta serológica en pacientes críticos intubados con SARS-CoV-2. Implicaciones para retirada de aislamiento [Viral detection and serological response in critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2. Implications for isolation withdrawal]. Medicina Intensiva, 44 (9), 586-588, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medin.2020.04.014
Gill, J.C., Malamud, B.D. 2014. Reviewing and visualizing the interactions of natural hazards. Reviews of Geophysics, 52, doi:10.1002/2013RG000445.
Gill, J.C., Malamud, B.D. 2016. Hazard Interactions and Interaction Networks (Cascades) within Multi-Hazard Methodologies. Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 659-679, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-659-2016
Hellenic Statistical Authority (2011). 2011 Building Census of Greece. Available at: https://www.statistics.gr/en/2011-census-pop-hous
La Scola, B., Le Bideau, M., Andreani, J., Hoang, V.T., Grimaldier, C., Colson, P., Gautret, P., Raoult, D., 2020. Viral RNA load as determined by cell culture as a management tool for discharge of SARS-CoV-2 patients from infectious disease wards. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 39 (6), 1059-1061, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03913-9
Lauer, S.A., Grantz, K.H., Bi, Q., Jones, F.K., Zheng, Q., Meredith, H.R., Azman, A.S., Reich, N.G., Lessler, J., 2020. The incubation period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from publicly reported confirmed cases: estimation and application. Annals of Internal Medicine. 172 (9), 577-582, https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-0504.
Lekkas, E., Agorastos, K., Mavroulis, S., Kranis, Ch., Skourtsos, Emm., Carydis, P., Gogou, M., Katsetsiadou, K.-N., Papadopoulos, G., Triantafyllou, I., Agalos, A., Moraitis, S., Stamati, E., Psarris, D., Kaviris, G., Kapetanidis, V., Papadimitriou, P., Karakonstantis, A., Spingos, I., Kouskouna, V., Kassaras, I., Pavlou, K., Voulgaris, N., Mavrouli, M., Pavlides, S., Chatzipetros, A., Sboras, S., Kremastas, E., Chatziioannou, A., Kiratzi, A., Papazachos, C., Chatzis, N., Karakostas, V., Papadimitriou, E., Koukouvelas, Ι., Nikolakopoulos, Κ., Kyriou, Α., Apostolopoulos, D., Zygouri, V., Verroios, S., Belesis, A., Tsentzos, I., Krassakis, P., Lymperopoulos, K., Karavias, A., Bafi, D., Gatsios, T., Karatzia, M., Gkougkoustamos, I., Falaras, T., Parcharidis, I., Papathanassiou, G., Evangelidis, C.P., Karastathis,V., Tselentis, G-A., Ganas, A., Tsironi, V., Karasante, I., Valkaniotis, S., Galanakis, D., Kostantopoulou, G., Theodoulidis, N., Karakostas, Ch., Lekidis,V., Makra, K., Margaris, V., Morfidis, K., Papaioannou, Ch., Rovithis, M., Salonikios, Th., Papadopoulos, N., Kourou, A., Manousaki, M., Thoma, T., 2021. The early March 2021 Thessaly earthquake sequence. Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster and Crises Management Strategies, 22, 195 p., ISSN 2653-9454, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34803.04644
Lekkas, E., Mavroulis, S., Carydis, P., Skourtsos, E., Kaviris, G., Paschos, P., Ganas, A., Kazantzidou-Firtinidou, D., Parcharidis, I., Gatsios, T., Angelou, D., Karavias, A., Bafi, D., Markogiannaki, O., 2020a. The March 21, 2020, Mw 5.7 Epirus (Greece) Earthquake. Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster and Crises Management Strategies, 17, 75 p, ISSN 2653-9454, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16251.54561
Lekkas, E., Mavroulis, S., Gogou, Μ., Papadopoulos, G.A., Triantafyllou, I., Katsetsiadou, K.-N., Kranis, H., Skourtsos, E., Carydis, P., Voulgaris, N., Papadimitriou, P., Kapetanidis, V., Karakonstantis, A., Spingos, I., Kouskouna, V., Kassaras, I., Kaviris, G., Pavlou, K., Sakkas, V., Karatzetzou, A. Evelpidou, N. Karkani, E. Kampolis, I., Nomikou, P., Lambridou, D., Krassakis, P., Foumelis, M., Papazachos, C., Karavias, A., Bafi, D., Gatsios, T., Markogiannaki, O., Parcharidis, I., Ganas, A., Tsironi, V., Karasante, I., Galanakis, D., Kontodimos, K., Sakellariou, D., Theodoulidis, N., Karakostas, C., Lekidis, V., Makra, K., Margaris, V., Morfidis, K., Papaioannou, C., Rovithis, E., Salonikios, T., Kourou, A., Manousaki, M., Thoma, T., Κarveleas, N., 2020b. The October 30, 2020 Mw 6.9 Samos (Greece) earthquake. Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster and Crises Management Strategies, 21, 156 p., ISSN 2653-9454, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13630.10561
Lekkas, E., Mavroulis, S., Kourou, A., Manousaki, M., Thoma, T., Karveleas, N., 2020c. The October 30, 2020, Mw=6.9, Samos (Eastern Aegean Sea, Greece) Earthquake: Preparedness and Emergency Response for Effective Disaster Management. Joint Report of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, p. 53, ISSN 2653-9454, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25478.60482
Levine-Tiefenbrun, M., Yelin, I., Katz, R., Herzel, E., Golan, Z., Schreiber, L., Wolf, T., Nadler, V., Ben-Tov, A., Kuint, J., Gazit, S., Patalon, T., Chodick, G., Kishony, R., 2021. Initial report of decreased SARS-CoV-2 viral load after inoculation with the BNT162b2 vaccine. Nature Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01316-7.
Mavroulis, S., Mavrouli, M., Lekkas, E., 2021. Geological and hydrometeorological hazards and related disasters amid COVID-19 pandemic in Greece: Post-disaster trends and factors affecting the COVID-19 evolution in affected areas. Safety Science, 138, 105236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105236
National Public Health Organization 2021. COVID-19 Daily Reports. Available at: https://eody.gov.gr/epidimiologika-statistika-dedomena/ektheseis-covid-19/
Papadimitriou, P., Kapetanidis, V., Karakonstantis, A., Spingos, I., Kassaras, I., Sakkas, V., Kouskouna, V., Karatzetzou, A., Pavlou, K., Kaviris, G., Voulgaris, N., 2020. First results on the Mw = 6.9 Samos Earthquake of 30 October 2020. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 56, 251-279.
Rutkowski, K., Mirakian, R., Till, S., Rutkowski, R., Wagner, A., 2021. Adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines: A practical approach. Clinical & Experimental Allergy. https://doi.org/10.1111/cea.13880
Valkaniotis, S., Papathanassiou, G., Ganas, A., Kremastas, E., Caputo, R., 2021. Preliminary report of liquefaction phenomena triggered by the March 2021 earthquakes in Central Thessaly, Greece. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4608365