Although it has been five days since a 5.8 Richter earthquake shook the island of Kefalonia, local residents are concerned about the ongoing seismic activity. Over 250 aftershocks have been documented, of which 25 measure 4 or higher on the Richter scale.
Meanwhile technical teams dispatched to the Ionian island are continuing to survey and document damages. About 500 damaged buildings and homes have been inspected so far and about half of them were not deemed safe. There are about 1,600 requests for home inspections pending, 1,000 of which are for the city of Lixouri and surrounding villages.
Technical teams from water company EYDAP have also arrived to help restore the water and sewage networks, while the municipality has began removing boulders and debris from the island’s roads and highways. The Municipality is also considering transferring the earthquake victims who have found refuge in docked ferry boats to hotels that remained closed during this winter tourist season.
The research director of the Athens Institute of Geodynamics Athanasios Ganas explained that a the Sunday earthquake activated another seismic rift, where many of the recent aftershocks have been documented in the past four days.
