tornado

not once in my time in the greek islands have i encountered any eartquakes etc. perhaps im just lucky

I was in Alykes last week when the Earth Tremmers occured. I was a bit shocked at first but the staff at our hotel where great. We knew there was nothing to worry about as they were really calm. They just told us there is nothing to worry about. We had quite a few more in the following day but i have put it down to experience!! How many people can say they went on holiday and survived earthquakes? Ok i know it was lucky that there wasnt any serious damage and luckily no one was hurt...but i suppose thats the beauty of it.

Louise as per my previous posting earlier, that sound like a FANTASTIC holiday you had.

Wish I had been there
**edit to remove bold**

Hi Graham
you don't have to fly out to Greece to experience the wonders of the planet.. .. >>

Birmingham.. ..
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2002/usjjaw/index.html

There was another in August just off the south coast near Plymouth but, i cannot find any information on it..

paul..

Gosh was the Dudley earthquake over three years ago now? My, how time flies. I live a good way from Dudley but I felt the tremors that night and for a moment I thought I was back somewhere in Greece again, either that or dreaming about being in Greece again!

Frankly I am surprised that people go to Greece, Turkey and North Africa and are completely oblivious to the fact that they all suffer hundreds of tiny earthquakes every year. Why people do not even read a simple basic guide book on the country or place they are visiting is beyond me.

My very first time on the Greek mainland, an hour from Athens and the earth moved for me during the night and no, it wasn't anything to with the fact that I was on honeymoon. Since then I have felt the earth move many, many times whilst somewhere in Greece, sometimes just a little tickle and now and then, a big rumbling shake.

I take my children there and do not have a worry about that. The BIG one when it happens will be as under predicted as any other big earthquake in history and there will be little that any rep or tour operator will be able to do about it. If there was a problem then then the Foreign Office would warn you about it. For anyone that has any queries about where it is and isn't safe to travel due to either political situations or 'unpredictable' natural phenomena, visit the FO's web site. My only other advice would be to educate yourself about the place you are travelling to before you go on holiday by researching on the net or by buying a book!!!

you lot on here make me laugh, you go on about reading about your resort before you go, i have spoken to lots of people over the past few days and not one reads up on there holiday resort before going away. first choice customer service rep did not even know about the islands history same as some of the travel shops i visited this week. you also go on about the little quakes you have felt and that you were not bothered by them. there was not one tourist that i spoke to on the island last week that was not frightened or scared, a 6.3 is a big quake,the biggest in 10yrs, the buildings swayed and shook, bottles and glasses broke, roads rippled and the worst bit is the noise.
if the quake was nothing to worry about why was there so many people wanting to get off the island, there was a few people on our flight on sunday that had cut short their holiday, we wanted to go on tuesday evening but did not want to pay the bumped up prices.

I agree that the noise is scary (I spoke of a big rumbling shake, it's more of a long, protracted roar but hey ho) and experiencing a big quake is scary too and I'm sorry your children were scared ( but were they scared by the actual quake itself or by the reaction of the adults around them to the quake?) but not knowing about a quake zone because you cannot be bothered to research a little about the place you are going to is just plain ignorant. People wanted to get away from the island because they were scared and the reason they were scared was because of their lack of knowledge about the situation, which is something that is easily remedied. To be honest if I was really scared by a situation, I would pay any price to get away because my life and that of my children's is more important that some hiked up prices. The fact that the local government didn't feel the need to evacuate the island (and they would do if they had reason to believe that peoples lives were at stake, this is Greece a member of the EU for goodness sake and not the back of beyond) should indicate that there was no reason to be alarmed after the event.

Malcb, I always read up on the place I am going on holiday to, not necessarily to find out about earthquakes, but to learn a little about where I`m going, but in doing so I will find out about quakes as well.

myself like others save up all year to pay for our holiday and spending money so would find it hard to find £300 each to get home. some familys had 6 in a group so that would of cost them £1800.
after the first quake i went to the hotel management who told me about the greek building regulations and how the hotel would be able to survive a quake up to 10. i passed this information on to other guests in the hotel but they were still scared buring each quake, i tried my best to keep people calm for the sake of the children and the old people, i think i done a good job because nobody ended up running for the door.

Hi Malc
I totally understand every concern you have about the Zante earthquakes and even though i wish i could have been there for the event i would also have been very worried myself. They are so unpredictable you just don't know how strong the next one will be or when.

Skyros suffered considerable damage in 2001 with several earthquakes about the same magnitude. Buildings and roads were damaged and took several weeks for the island to get back to normal. All the zante quakes were out in the sea but the Skyros quakes centred under the island.

http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12920&m=A06&aa=3&eidos=A

If anyone has stereo speakers and a bass speaker play this .wav file on medium volume it should rattle things around the house. As the low frequency noise generated by earthquakes is very powerful so you dont only hear it you also feel the lower tones that the ear doesnt pick up.

Quick time.
http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/SoundEffects/seismicdisturb.wav

MP3
http://homepage.mac.com/fortdelce/seismicdisturb-1.mp3

There is also a valley on Zante which was created when the island suffered a devastating earthquake some years before the well documented 1953 earthquake. i think it might be this one in the picture on this link below..

http://www.michaelpead.co.uk/p9710066.html

Our planet is very dynamic and very much alive with so many wonderful things to experience but, also it can be very dangerous. As well as the wish to be there to experience it i'm glad for so many of our friends and lovely people on Zakynthos that this one didnt cause any serious damage and no serious injuries.

like you say at the end of the day there was no serious damage or injuries. this link http://lemnos.geo.auth.gr/the_seisnet/ATLAS/web/majorquakes_en.htm tells you about the 11 quakes in 5 days.
i tried to download the wav file that was posted of the noise but there seems to be an error.

I always research my destination before I travel, and was very aware that zante suffered from a massive earthquake in 1953, and the whole island was structurally rebuilt to withstand further earthquakes up to 9.4 on the ricter scale. However i did not read any literature either on a zakynthos website or in my guide book about the possible threat of having 9 earthquakes in 7 days.
I am certainly in need of another holiday since I returned, to relax and catch up on some much needed sleep that I lost worrying about the earth rumbling underneath me and my two childrens and mums anxiety too.
We made the most of our holiday in zante with various excursions, and enjoyed what the island had to offer.
My next holiday will hopefully be somewhere earhtquake free as I endeavour to research even more on my chosen destination.

jackie 15 if you click on this link http://lemnos.geo.auth.gr/the_seisnet/ATLAS/web/majorquakes_en.htm it tells you from 18/10 to 23/10 zakinthos had 11 quakes.
i went into my local first choice shop this morning, i made out that i was thinking about going to zante next year, i asked them if the island suffered from tremors/quakes and the young lady told me that greece does not suffer quakes at all, she had been to zante the past 2 years. i also went into a book shop and found a book on greek islands, the only quake they mention is 1953, no mention about the islands being on a fault line.
i am asking first choice for a full refund of my holiday because i could not relax or sleep, my partner is still suffering from disturbed sleep and junps at the slightest bang. my neice works for thomson and she told me today that they had 4 customers in her shop who just returned from cancoon and they have already been offered full refunds for there ruined holiday and that was an act of god.

please do not try to compare your 6.3 zante earthquake to what those poor people experienced in cancoon

i was not comparing the 2,but both are an act of god

Half the planet suffers tremors and quakes at some time. Would you refuse to visit California for instance because of the San Andreas fault? You suffered no loss or injury (thankfully) and I doubt that you have any valid claim against First Choice. In future I suggest you research your destination before booking.

According to a friend who works in a TO HO in the travel industry, the people who were affected by Wilma are being offered compensation for days lost including being flown home early and not full refunds. This apparently is standard practice. A full refund is offered if no part of the holiday was taken, so those who never actually flew out obviously get a refund.

I don't expect the young girls in the travel agency or the glossy brochures that are trying to sell me something, to tell me all about a place. My holidays are important to me too, that's why I do some research, either from books or on the web - and in forums like this - to find somewhere I know I'm going to like.

You'll probably find that most insurance excludes "acts of god" - you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time - and no-one was hurt!

i am asking first choice for a full refund of my holiday

All the continued fuss becomes clear now