“Strong earthquake in Chania and Rethymnon, exercise”

Today, Monday 22/04, the big “Minos” exercise will begin on the island of Crete. This is the largest anti-seismic exercise that has ever been carried out in Greece and will last two days.

For this important exercise earthquake protection Efthymios Lekkas, professor of Geology and Natural Disaster Management, spoke to ERTNews.

“It is the largest anti-seismic exercise that has ever been carried out in Greece with the participation of all of Crete, with the participation of the central agencies. About ten ministries are involved,” he said.

It will take place all over Crete, in all prefectures and more than 100,000 to 150,000 people will take part in the exercise. In fact, on both days residents will be sent a message from 112 informing them of the exercise, “warning” of a major earthquake.

“The scenario includes two earthquakes. The first earthquake will occur on Monday after 10:00 and will be near Chania with a magnitude of 6.4 degrees. It will mainly affect the regional units of Chania and Rethymno” explained Mr. Lekkas.

Tuesday will follow a second scenario with an earthquake that will occur north of Heraklion, with a magnitude of 7.2 degrees which will affect all of Crete but mainly the regional units of Heraklion and Lasithi”.

And as Mr. Lekkas stated, among others, the exercise included75 episodes that make up a realistic scenario.

“These are areas that may face problems during a major earthquake. It is the largest exercise that has been carried out in the Greek area. Over 100,000 – 150,000 people will take part. It includes not only the main grid of the script and episodes, but essentially horizontal actions which will be developed in ports, airports, the fire brigade, the police, in all public services, in the municipalities and in the 1040 schools of Crete”.

What will the 112 messages say about “earthquakes”

According to cretapost three messages will be sent on Monday and Tuesday. Initially, a message will be sent on Monday to the residents of Chania and Rethymno and on Tuesday to all of Crete.

As stated in a relevant announcement by the Ministry of Climate of Crete and Civil Protection, all messages will begin with the distinct indication “EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE” (corresponding reference will also be included in the English language: “EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE”), in order to make it clear that this is an Exercise and to avoid any misunderstandings and confusion.

More specifically:

On Monday, April 22, 2024, after 10:00 am, a message will be sent to P.E. Chania and Rethymnon, which will mark the start of the first day’s exercise. The message will have the following content:

“EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE MINISTRY OF CLIMATE CRISIS AND CIVIL PROTECTION 22/04/2024 – TIME (…) – Strong earthquake tremor felt in the Regional Units of Chania and Rethymnon – Start of earthquake exercise MINOA 2024. EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE

EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE – MINISTRY FOR CLIMATE CRISIS AND CIVIL PROTECTION 22/04/2024 – TIME (…) – A strong earthquake in the Regional Units of Chania and Rethymno – Start of earthquake exercise MINOAS 2024. EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE»

On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, two 112 messages will be sent to all of Crete.

(1) The first message, which will signal the start of the second day’s exercise, will be sent after 10:00 am. and will have the following content:

“EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE MINISTRY OF CLIMATE CRISIS AND CIVIL PROTECTION 23/04/2024 – TIME (…) – Very strong seismic tremor felt throughout Crete. Start of MINOAS 2024 earthquake exercise. EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE

EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE – MINISTRY FOR CLIMATE CRISIS AND CIVIL PROTECTION 23/04/2024 – TIME (…) – A very strong earthquake was felt throughout Crete. Start of earthquake exercise MINOAS 2024. EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE”

(2) The second message will follow a few minutes after the first and will be a warning message about the risk of a tsunami due to the seismic vibration. The message will have the following content:

“EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE MINISTRY OF CLIMATE CRISIS & CIVIL PROTECTION 23/04/2024 HOUR (…) – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred with an epicenter 30 km W of Heraklion. Risk of a possible tsunami event in your area. Move immediately away from the shores. Follow local authority guidelines PRACTICE – PRACTICE – PRACTICE

EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE – CIVIL PROTECTION GREECE 23/04/2024 TIME (…) – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake has occurred 30 km N of Heraklion. Tsounami warning for your area. Move away from coastal areas now. Follow the instructions of local authorities. EXERCISE – EXERCISE – EXERCISE”.

The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection emphasizes that if any emergency situation arises during the above dates that requires the sending of an alarm message from 112, it will be carried out normally. To this end, it invites all recipients of 112 messages in Crete on April 22 and 23, 2024 to carefully read the content of the notifications they will receive.