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Academic warns: 10 -15 minute response time if tsunami hits Aegean

The need for ready-made reaction scenarios for the case of a tsunami in the Aegean, was stressed by Professor of the Technical University of Crete, Costas Sylolakis.

If an earthquake of more than seven degrees on the Richter scale causes a tsunami in the Aegean, the reaction time will be only 10-15 minutes until the wave hits the shores, warned Mr. Sylalakis in a speech at the Athens Academy meeting to welcome him as its 45th member.

"Because we will not have enough time, there must be a number of ready-made scenarios for reaction and appropriate preparation so that from the moment the tsunami is perceived, the time available from Civil Protection and the other competent agencies (defining specific escape routes for a region, etc.) ", the professor explained.

Unfortunately, in many parts of Greece there are no tsunami risk maps and where they exist (eg Crete) they tend to be soon forgotten, Mr. Sylalakis noted, stressing that the ultimate aim of the efforts should be to never see in Greece scenes like Thailand after the 2004 tsunami.

In his speech, the professor said the biggest tsunami that hit our wider region occurred in 365 AD after an earthquake of 8.7 degrees, which resulted, among other things, in the destruction of Alexandria in Egypt. The biggest tsunami of the modern era was that of July 1956, following an earthquake of 7.7 degrees, which hit many Aegean islands.

Mr. Sylalakis also referred to the floods in connection with the tragic images in Mandra recently and spoke of "criminal ignorance of the consequences" by the authorities and pointed out that in a flood the worst place to be is in a car .