Thousands stranded by Greek earthquake
Two killed as earthquake strikes and brings panic to Greek island and Turkish holiday resort
THOUSANDS of British tourists were stranded in Greece yesterday after an earthquake caused chaos.
At least two tourists were killed and hundreds injured after the earthquake shook the Greek islands and Turkish coast, triggering a small tsunami. The 6.7-magnitude quake struck in the Aegean Sea south of Bodrum, Turkey, and east of the Greek island of Kos.
The Foreign Office warned last night of “significant” travel disruption for those hoping to leave Greece by either flight or ferry. The earthquake sent a building crashing down on tourists at a bar in the Old Town of the main port on Kos, killing two men – a 27-year-old from Sweden and a 39-year-old from Turkey – and injuring scores of others.
Tourists fled their hotels when the quake hit at around 1.30am local time yesterday and experienced more than 20 aftershocks throughout the night.
There are around 10,000 British tourists in Kos, and they number in the “low thousands” in Bodrum, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta). The true figure is likely to be higher, as this excludes independent travellers. TUI, which owns Thomson and First Choice, said a “handful” of its customers were injured. Kos airport was closed yesterday morning, but reopened later with delays. Abta said: “Tour operators are working alongside the local authorities to assess the damage, and will make arrangements to move customers should structural damage be found to their accommodation.”
The earthquake came ahead of what is expected to be the busiest weekend on record for British holidaymakers. The air traffic controller, Nats, said it expected 8,800 flights to pass through British airspace yesterday, the highest volume of flights since records began.
KAIRIN WHITAKER was getting his first taste of Greek island nightlife with two friends when the earthquake struck.
The 19-year-old from Manchester was having drinks with his two other hometown friends on the lively strip of bars that line the harbour when a loud noise startled them and everything started shaking.
“All of sudden we lost our balance and then the lights went off, so we ran toward the harbour, but then we saw the water coming up so fast. It was very scary,” said Mr Whitaker.
The undersea quake caused a 2ft sea swell, with the tremors and rising water triggering panic in the streets of the Greek holiday island of Kos and the nearby Turkish resort of Bodrum early yesterday.
Many of the injuries occurred in the tightly packed bar and club district largely run by Scandinavians near the harbour where tourists were enjoying a summer evening of drinks and dancing when the quake struck at 1.31am (10.31pm GMT).
The White Corner Club partially collapsed, killing a Turkish tourist, 39, and a 22-year-old Swedish holidaymaker.
Greek authorities said 13 people were seriously injured and airlifted to hospital, including tourists from Norway, Sweden and Turkey, while 350 others suffered light injuries.
One Dutch national leaving a Kos hospital with a bandaged leg and an X-ray in hand told The Daily Telegraph she was trampled by fleeing crowds screaming “tsunami”.
Gengiz Ozruh, a Turkish businessman, was sleeping in his yacht in the harbour with Ikin, his 15-year-old daughter, when they were awoken by a violent swelling and heaving of the sea.
“The water kept rising. It must have happened 15 times,” said Ikin. As water rushed into the city, people began running away from the sea toward the highest point in town.
“Everybody started running toward us so we turned around and followed the Greeks up to the open square away from all the buildings,” said James Malik, 18, of Manchester.
Like many other shaken tourists, they went straight to the airport only to find there were no flights out.
Yesterday afternoon Kos airport was operational, but overflowing with tourists headed home, including a young group of Norwegian waiters who had been working in a bar near the White Corner Club.
“At first I thought it was bass from the music, but then I was thrown against the wall and the liquor bottles all started to fall,” explained Martin Tjeldsto, 20.
Yasar Ongun got separated from his co-workers in the chaos and darkness. “Everyone screamed tsunami and started running to higher ground. It was scary. I saw five people lying on the ground. It’s crazy because just a few minutes before that we had been partying with girls dancing on the tables.”
The main port in Kos remained closed to ferry traffic and the old mosque in Kos centre was extensively damaged.
“We are a small Muslim community, just 1,300 on the island, and I am worried that it will not be rebuilt without help from outside,” said shopkeeper Ahmet Hazikaras, who is half Greek and half Turkish, like many who reside on Kos.
Mr Hazikaras, who owns the Old Town Market and the Terra Natura shops that sell local and regional products such as olive oil, liquors, honey and cosmetics, lost 80 per cent of his merchandise, worth €50,000 (£45,000). “I hope the tourists keep coming to Kos. After all, it is a natural disaster, not terrorism, this was mother nature,” said Mr Hazikaras as he took a break from the mopping up his shop alongside friends and family.
Mr Hazikaras had just closed up for the night and returned to his home on the high plain community of Platani when the earthquake hit.
“I grabbed my children, my wife started screaming and we ran outside,” he said. “They went to the local playground and by 3am there were 100 other people, including many tourists seeking higher ground.”
Turkish and Greek authorities estimated the magnitude of the quake at 6.3 and 6.6 respectively and reported at least 200 aftershocks.
Constantina Svynou, the head of the hoteliers’ association in Kos, told Greek state television that many visitors had spent the night outside their hotels.
“There are about 200,000 tourists on the island, we are at the peak season.
“Our first reaction was to calm the tourists, following basic rules and evacuating hotel buildings,” Mr Svynou said.
The epicentre was six miles south of Bodrum and 10 miles north-east of Kos, in a massive underwater caldera that is part of the Aegean arc of volcanoes that includes the calderas of Nisyros and Santorini.
For centuries, the shifting Anatolian and African tectonic plates have caused the islands in the Dodecanese to tremble.
Yesterday, tourists, local Greeks and government representatives from Athens ambled around the city, examining damage to the churches, mosques and monuments, rushing into open areas at each aftershock.
The Turkish church, the city’s old mosque, the ancient Greek ruins and the 14th-century fortress in the port all sustained damage.
‘Everybody started running toward us so we followed the Greeks up to the open square away from all the buildings’