Devastating toll of Samos quake gradually exposed

A classroom at the primary school of Hora, Samos’ old capital, is pictured during a Kathimerini tour of the eastern Aegean island in the wake of the 6.7 magnitude quake that struck the area on October 30. Most of the damage was restricted to the first floor of the structure, which was built in 1928. The quake occurred as most of the school’s 130 pupils were having lunch on the ground floor. The island, which according to geology experts at Athens University was elevated by up to 25 centimeters by the tremor, is gradually beginning to realize the full extent of the destruction to houses, businesses, schools, churches and historical monuments. [Konstantinos Georgopoulos]