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Scenes of chaos and terror describe the Greeks who survived the earthquake in Japan

12 March 2011 / 20:03:44  GRReporter
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The Greeks who live in Japan are determined not to return home, despite the apocalyptic scenes that followed the strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale. The possibility, however, that a cloud of radiation has been formed and for it to arrive over the Japanese capital has forced some of the Greeks to contact the Greek embassy with the intention to leave the country if necessary. "I think that if the radiation reaches Tokyo chaos will come", said one of them for the Greek National Television.

The Greek rescue team is ready to send a team in Japan or in any other country affected by the tsunami.

Greek group is a member of the international network of rescue teams of the UN. Thus, it is informed about the developments of the situation from the official international information channels. Greek rescuers have formed a group including medical personnel, if an official call for help is made.

"At the time of the earthquake I was located in a restaurant and I was having lunch with two friends. Suddenly found ourselves in a state of weightlessness. In Japan we are accustomed to the quakes, but this was something completely different. Terrified we started running toward the exit and the street where there was chaos. A tsunami of people had already formed. I ran to the store of my husband and I found him hiding under the tables with the girls from the staff.

What made impression to me was the fact that later different customers started coming and buying clothes as if nothing had happened. Currently there continue to be minor quakes, some of which are strong and others are weaker. Throughout the day, in the bakery there was no bread, and the subway trains were not running.

All people wear helmets on their heads, which we are all equipped with. We are watching on the news that elsewhere damages are very large, but the capital was less affected. In any case, the residents of the town are keeping their heads up and throughout the whole day they were shopping, as always. This tells us Diana Koutsi, one of the 300 Greeks who live in the areas affected by the earthquake.

Her compatriots also described the events as "shock and horror" as they have not experienced ever before. Ahileas Ioannou told the Greek national television: "We felt fear and horror seeing 30 and 40-storey buildings shaking as if they were paper towers".

The fact that the seismic activity has lasted for quite a long time has increased the fear of the people. "Our greatest fear began when we realized that one minute had passed and the earthquake not only didn’t stop, but it grew stronger," said Costas Papayanopoulos.

The sailor Ioannis Bogdanopoulos whose ship has berthed at the port of Yokohama said the two minutes, during which the earth was shaking were the most terrible in his life.

A telegram with condolence to the Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan sent his Greek counterpart George Papandreou. In it he expressed his sorrow for the tragic consequences of the earthquake and the subsequent disastrous tsunami and expressed Greece's solidarity towards those inhabitants of Japan affected by the natural disaster.

 

Tags: earthquake tsunami Greeks in Japan radiation
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