Citation

Pomonis A. Nat. Hazards 2002; 27(1-2): 171-199.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Strong earthquakes in the proximity of densely inhabited urban areas pose one of the most complicated disaster management situations faced by societies today. Here the experience and principal disaster management lessons learned from the earthquake near Athens, Greece, in September 1999, are presented. A review of the earthquake affected region reveals that Athens continues to expand in area, thus becoming more exposed to seismic activity from neighbouring seismogenic areas. The earthquake of 7 September 1999 became Greece's costliest natural disaster, despite its moderate magnitude, and occurred in an area of low seismic activity, only 18 kilometres from the city centre. What were the effects of the earthquake on the building stock of Athens in statistical terms? How can a society with relatively modest financial means react when close to 100,000 properties are suddenly rendered uninhabitable or need costly repairs? What were the relief actions taken by a government that is experienced in dealing with frequent earthquake disasters in other parts of the country? What needs to be done to improve earthquake safety and preparedness? Has the recovery process two years after the earthquake reached a satisfactory level? What were the effects on the insurance industry? These are some of the issues discussed in this paper, which forms an initial study of the disaster management aspects of this event. The official information sources in this paper are from various Greek sources. It was thought useful to include some of these (e.g., the results of the damage surveys; the government's estimates of the cost of the recovery; the measures for relief assistance; the data about the recovery process) for the benefit of international and local readers interested in earthquake disaster management issues.