Hundreds of homes deemed unfit after Greek quakes: officials

Hundreds of homes in rural central Greece have been deemed unfit for habitation after a wave of quakes this week, AFP reports citing officials. Inspections this week have determined that over 250 homes in the central prefecture of Fthiotida must be abandoned and the number is expected to rise. "Over 350 homes that were seriously damaged are likely to be rendered uninhabitable," Apostolis Karakoussis, head of the local technical chamber, told state-run ANA news agency. More than 300 aftershocks have hit the area around the town of Amfiklia, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of Athens, after a 5.1-magnitude quake on August 7, ANA said. The seismic activity has also been felt in the capital. No casualties have been reported, but many residents of Amfiklia and the villages of Regini, Modi, Xiliki, Tithronio and Mendenitsa have been staying with relatives or camping outdoors this week. Seismologists have warned that the activity could last for two more weeks. Greece is the European country that is most prone to earthquakes. In September 1999 a 5.9-magnitude quake killed 143 people in Athens and the region northwest of the capital.