Second Larissa quake causes widespread damage
Dozens of buildings were severely damaged by a second powerful earthquake that rocked the region of Larissa in central Greece on Thursday night.
By Wednesday evening, experts found that at least 176 buildings are not fit for habitation in the broader area of the town of Tyrnavos, with most of the damage reported in small villages in the vicinity.
Infrastructure Ministry crews, meanwhile, were reporting damage to dozens of businesses, churches and public buildings, while rockfalls hindered passage on several parts of the road network and water pipes in many areas were cracked and pumping muddy water.
Some 300 residents of the village of Damasi have been transferred to a hotel with another 50 to follow on Friday, though around 120 people were still sleeping in tents on Thursday night in Tyrnavos.
“These are people who have animals or business in the village that prevent them from leaving,” Thessaly Regional Governor Kostas Agorastos said.
“We brought in generators to power heaters because it gets bitterly cold at night. In Damasi, four psychologists were brought in from the local health center to talk to residents who were particularly upset, while we also carried out a large number of rapid tests” for the coronavirus, he added.
The Municipality of Tyrnavos will be receiving applications for financial assistance until April 3.
Thursday’s 8.38 p.m. earthquake came after a magnitude 6-Richter tremor that hit Larissa at around noon on Wednesday and was followed by several powerful aftershocks.
