Fresh rash of tremors in Thiva not deemed ominous

The seismic activity that restarted on Sunday in the central Greek city of Thiva is not expected to lead to a large temblor, according to scientists who are nonetheless monitoring the impact on “poorly constructed” buildings.

Thiva was rattled by a mild 3.8 magnitude earthquake on Sunday, followed by a number of aftershocks. “All aftershocks have occurred at shallow focal depths of less than 10 kilometers in an area east of Thiva,” said Geodynamics Institute Research Director Thanassis Ganas. He said seismic activity in the area began in December 2020, with a 4.4 M quake near Kallithea village, 10 km east of Thiva, followed by small aftershocks.

The activity resumed with two earthquakes of 4.3 and 4.1 in July 2021, “and has practically not stopped,” he added.

“However, we are not worried about a large earthquake because there are no large faults in the area of the seismic sequence,” he noted.