President of Earthquake Planning Organisation says more earthquakes expected

He reassures public that tremors will not exceed 5 level

The President of the Earthquake Planning & Protection Organisation, Efthymios Lekkas told radio “Thema 104.6” that he estimated more tremors would follow after the 4.4 magnitude that rocked Athens late Monday night. “I believe that the activity (seismic) will continue given the fact that there are small faults in the region”, he said.

He added, however, that any new tremor would not exceed the 5 magnitude level. According to Mr, Lekkas, the area where Monday night’s earthquake occurred could not produce any larger aftershock stressing that he believed it highly unlikely the Parthitha fault would be activated. Responding to why the impact of Monday’s tremor was so forceful he said it was due to its shallow depth. “It was an earthquake we were expecting, it had a small depth and was a continuation of the earthquakes that happened a week ago”, he added. He explained that the earthquakes that occurred in Santorini, Tripoli and elsewhere in Greece were part of a larger activity across the area.