1999 Athens earthquake
  Athens
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| Date | September 7, 1999 |
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| Magnitude | 6.0 Mw |
| Depth | 10 km |
| Epicenter | 38.11N 23.60E |
| Areas affected | Greece |
| Peak acceleration | 0.6 g |
| Casualties | 143 dead 2,000 injured 50,000 homeless 53,000+ buildings damaged or destroyed |
The 1999 Athens earthquake, registering a moment magnitude of 6.0, occurred on September 7 at 2:56:50 pm local time and lasted approximately 15 seconds in Ano Liosia. The tremor was epicentered approximately 17 km to the northwest of the city center, in a sparsely populated area between the working-class town of Acharnes and the Mount Parnitha National Park. This proximity to the Athens Metropolitan Area resulted in widespread structural damage, mainly to the nearby towns of Ano Liossia, Acharnes, Fyli and Thrakomakedones as well as to the northern Athenian suburbs of Kifissia, Metamorfosi, Kamatero and Nea Philadelphia. More than 100 buildings (including three major factories) across those areas collapsed trapping scores of victims under their rubble while dozens more were severely damaged. Overall, 143 people lost their lives and more than 2,000 were treated for injuries in what eventually became Greece's deadliest natural disaster in almost half a century. This event took Greek seismologists by surprise as it came from a previously unknown fault, originating in an area that was for a long time considered of a particularly low seismicity. The highest recorded peak ground acceleration was 0.3g, at 15 km from the epicentre, with attenuation predicting 0.6g acceleration at the centre.
The 1999 quake was the most devastating and costly natural disaster to hit the country in nearly 20 years. The last major earthquake to hit Athens took place on February 24, 1981, near the Alkyonides Islands of the Corinthian Gulf, some 87 km to the west of the Greek capital. Registering a moment magnitude of 6.7, the 1981 earthquake had resulted in the deaths of 20 people and considerable and widespread structural damage in the city of Corinth, nearby towns and sections of Athens' western suburbs.
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