Serious damage to homes, churches and infrastructure has been recorded in many areas of Epirus, following the strong shallow earthquake of 5.3 on the Richter scale on March 8th and the prolonged rainfall of recent months. The destruction is mainly located in villages of the Municipalities of Dodoni, Zitsa Ioannina and Souli Thesprotia, while inspections by Ministry engineering teams have already begun to record the damage. The Regional Governor of Epirus Alexandros Kachrimanis, speaking to parapolitika.gr, described the situation in the affected areas in stark terms, emphasizing that “the damage is now enormous and we need a lot of support”.
Read: Epirus: Schools closed in Ioannina and Thesprotia due to 5.3 Richter earthquake (Images & Video)
The greatest damage from the earthquake has been recorded in the Municipality of Dodoni. In the village of Psina, as well as other settlements in the area, the damage is particularly extensive. According to initial estimates, in some villages up to 50% of homes have been affected, while several houses are already considered dangerous or uninhabitable.
Damage has also been recorded in the villages of Dragopsa, Polygyros, Domolessa, Seniko and Lozana, while problems occurred in other areas of Epirus as well. In the Municipality of Zitsa, damage was found in Laliza, while in the Municipality of Souli in Thesprotia, the villages of Polydroso and Michla were affected.
As Mr. Kachrimanis explained, the traditional architecture of the region played a significant role in the extent of the damage. “The houses are stone-built but constructed with mud mortar and not cement. With the strong shaking of the earthquake, many of them suffered serious damage,” he noted characteristically. Many of these villages are mainly inhabited by elderly people and retirees, a fact that makes restoration of the damage even more difficult, as several were forced to temporarily abandon their homes.
Particularly significant are the damages recorded to religious monuments in the area. According to initial estimates, about 18 churches and one monastery have suffered earthquake damage. In many cases these are temples that constitute historical monuments, with some dating from 1790 and later periods, while the cost of restoration is estimated to reach or exceed 100,000 euros for each church.
For precautionary reasons, schools in Ioannina remained closed for two days, Monday and Tuesday, until the first inspections of the buildings were completed.
From Wednesday morning (11/03), Ministry engineering teams have been conducting inspections of houses in the affected areas to determine which buildings are safe and which are not. Homes are classified as green, yellow and red, depending on the extent of damage and how habitable they are.
In addition to earthquake damage, Epirus faces serious problems from the heavy rainfall that occurred in recent months. As the Regional Governor of Epirus noted, the area was affected by continuous and heavy rains from November until February.
“As much water that hadn’t fallen all year, fell within a short period of time. From November to February it rained continuously,” he said characteristically. The continuous rainfall caused floods, damage to the road network and technical works, as well as problems to public infrastructure. As Mr. Kachrimanis explained, there is a clear difference in the nature of damage caused by the two phenomena.
“Most of the earthquake damage is private, to houses. In contrast, flood damage is mainly to public infrastructure,” he emphasized.
To address the situation, a meeting has been scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 AM with Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Kostas Katsafados, to discuss restoration measures and support for the affected areas.
“We need a lot of support. The damage is extensive and the people in the villages are mainly elderly,” emphasized the Regional Governor of Epirus, underlining the need for immediate state intervention to restore the damage and support the residents.
