An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 with its epicenter in the Aegean Sea, 14 km northeast of the Greek island of Samos, occurred on October 30, 2020. Following the main shock, there were 1,250 aftershocks, of which 43 had a magnitude greater than 4.0. The earthquake also triggered a tsunami with waves up to 6 meters high, causing minor material damage. Two people died in Greece, and over 110 people lost their lives in the city of Izmir, Turkey, while more than a thousand were injured. In the city of Samos, about 15 km from the epicenter, the maximum ground acceleration (PGA) recorded was 0.23 g. In Greece, the greatest damage occurred to older masonry buildings and older religious and cultural structures. The earthquake also struck Turkey, especially the city of Izmir, located 27 km from the epicenter, where about 20 buildings collapsed—mostly mid-rise reinforced concrete structures in parts of the city where soft soil caused amplification of ground shaking. It is assumed that the damaged buildings likely had significant structural deficiencies due to errors during design and/or construction phases. The earthquake did not cause significant damage to infrastructure systems, so there were no interruptions in electricity, water, or gas supply. Approximately 15,000 people were displaced from their homes, and the material damage is currently estimated at over 400 million dollars. More information about this earthquake can be found at the following links:
Newsletter of EDCMS for the October 30, 2020, Mw 6.9 Samos earthquake, Athens, Greece
