Efthymios Lekkas: Greece at no risk from Antioch fault, death toll could be over 50,000

The president of the Organization of Antiseismic Planning and Protection (OASP), Efthymios Lekkas, stressed that the earthquake in Turkey could lead to over 50,000 deaths and that the fault will not affect areas of Greece.

Speaking from Antioch (Turkish: Antakya) in Turkey to SKAI TV on Saturday, Lekkas was reassuring that the fault line in Antakya can have no effect on Greek territory.

“All such comment made by colleagues – and I am sorry to say so – are not valid,” he said.

“To dispel the concerns of all Greeks, because we hear things that are unacceptable and exaggerated, in Greece there is no chance of seeing an earthquake of this magnitude…

“There must be moderation from all colleagues. I say explicitly and unequivocally that there is no connection between the fault that caused Monday’s earthquake and Greece,” he stressed.

“The extent of the disaster is about equal to mainland Greece, it is 500 kilometres long and 20 to 40 km wide,” he said.

He also explained that the fault in Turkey demarcates the area of the disaster and imposes the type of disaster.

“The approximately 30,000 [building] collapses were caused by tectonic subsidence. From this we have to formulate the seismic regulations,” he said, while also noting that “in Greece the anti-seismic regulations are much stronger.”

“Such damage would not have happened in Greece… there is no comparison,” he stressed.

More specifically, he said the anti-seismic regulations in Turkey are not strict and are not enforced, the buildings are of poor quality, and the design of the building frame is wrong.

The Turks show provide more attention to architectural design, he said, than seismic protection.

Meanwhile, speaking to AMNA, Lekkas predicted that “the death toll could be over 50,000.”

READ MORE: Turkey Earthquake: The moment Emine Erdoğan realises she was comforting a dwarf instead of a child.