Earthquake-stricken villagers to spend second night outdoors

Residents of Arkalochori and nearby villages in eastern Crete were preparing to spend a second night outdoors on Tuesday, after a strong earthquake on Monday killed one person and injured dozens, while leaving hundreds of old homes severely damaged.

Teams of engineers were dispatched to Crete on Tuesday to begin inspections on buildings and infrastructure damaged by Monday’s 5.8-magnitude quake. 

The Infrastructure Ministry said on Tuesday it had surveyed 415 buildings in the area. Of these, 343 were homes, 292 of which have been deemed temporarily uninhabitable while 11 are completely destroyed.

Of 15 businesses checked, 10 will require repairs before they reopen, while just five were suitable for use. 

Engineers also inspected 18 schols, of which half were given the all-clear, while the other half were deemed dangerous.