The Mount Parnitha (Athens) Earthquake of September 7, 1999: A Disaster Management Perspective

Abstract

Strong earthquakes in the proximity of densely inhabited urban areas pose one ofthe most complicated disaster management situations faced by societies today. Herethe experience and principal disaster management lessons learned from the earthquakenear Athens, Greece, in September 1999, are presented. A review of the earthquakeaffected region reveals that Athens continues to expand in area, thus becoming moreexposed to seismic activity from neighbouring seismogenic areas. The earthquake of7 September 1999 became Greece's costliest natural disaster, despite its moderatemagnitude, and occurred in an area of low seismic activity, only 18 kilometres fromthe 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., theresults 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.