The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Yiannis Kefalogiannis, immediately went to Heraklion, Crete, following the 6.1 -magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale this morning, accompanied by the Secretary -General of Civil Protection, and the Secretary -General of Civil Protection, and Nikos Protection.

The minister visited the 2nd and 5th Primary School of Bodrum and then the historic center of Heraklion, along with the Mayor of Heraklion, Alexis Summer, to carry out an autopsy on the buildings.

A meeting was followed by the Secretary General of Civil Protection, Nikos Papaefstathiou, the Regional Governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis, the Mayor of Heraklion, Alexis Kalirinos, the Regional Governor Giorgos Pitsoulis, Heraklion Vice -Mayor, Nikos Syrigonakis, Lassithiou Vice -Mayor, Yiannis Androulakis, Vice -Mayor of Rural Economy, Stavros Tzedakis & Energy, Nikos Gialitakis, Spatial Planning, Town Planning and Municipal Property, Stella Archontakis, Education, Antonis Epiminakis, the Secretary General of the Municipality, Maria Skrafnakis, as well as executives and officials of the Civil Protection Service.

Upon completion of the visit, Minister Kefalogiannis said:

“We had the opportunity to visit the Bodrum school units and buildings in the historic center of Heraklion, where we saw some microtizes caused by the current major earthquake that occurred off Crete.

I have to say that from the first minutes of the phenomenon the Fire Department acted immediately, and we had constant communication with both the Region of Crete, Mr. Stavros Arnaoutakis, and Mr. Nikos Syrigonakis, the Vice -Mayor, as well as with the municipality, with the municipality, with the municipality.

The good news is, as the relevant scientists have informed us, Mr. Lekkas – and thank him for his presence here – and Mr. Secretary General of Civil Protection, Mr. Papaefstathiou, that this is the main earthquake. Of course there is a post -seismic activity, which, based on the specific characteristics of the phenomenon, and especially the high focal depth, seems to have been the reason that fortunately we did not have serious damage.

In any case, we will continue to follow the evolution in the coming days and we will be in constant cooperation with both the Region and the Municipality in order to determine the next steps. I want, however, to pass a clear message: there is no question of concern about the safety of the buildings we visited today. Whatever it is, we will continue to watch it“