Rumors spread panic on Cephalonia

As if the damage done by the ongoing earthquakes wasn't enough, Cephalonia citizens are faced with misinformation concerning potential upcoming quakes. Early, on Tuesday, there was a rumor that a larger earthquake would strike the already badly damaged city of Lixouri and inhabitants should immediately evacuate.

The rumor, proved faslse, propagated on fear, and causing chaos in the city. The momentary panic was suchhat the local prosecutor has asked for an official investigation in order to find who is the person responsible for spreading disinformation.

Hundreds of people have seen their houses damaged beyond repair and have had to spend the night in the streets, their cars, public buses, basketball courts, even ferry boats. It's estimated that around 600 people spent the night outdoors.

The municipality of Cephalonia was forced to make a statement calling citizens to disregard any rumor, or information caused by panic and/or bad faith. It asks for self control and rationality to prevail. It adds that there has been absolutely no official document or statement to warn for any upcoming major earthquake in the island.

Seismologists have also been a little too glib, when appearing on national media to offer their expert testimony. Renowned earthquake expert Vasilis Papazachos stated yesterday that in the long term, it is more than possible that a quake as high as 7 on the Richter scale could strike the island.