ΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ ΤΕΙ ΙΟΝΙΩΝ ΝΗΣΩΝ
ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΕΡΓΑΣΤΗΡΙΟ ΣΕΙΣΜΙΚΟΥ ΚΙΝΔΥΝΟΥ και ΑΝΤΙΣΕΙΣΜΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ.
23.9.2014
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to thank the organizers for inviting me to address your
conference on Earthquake Protection Technology for Improved
Protection of Structures.
I lived through the experience of the recent Kefalonia earthquakes, as General Secretary of Public Works , staying in place for several weeks while monitoring the situation everyday for a few weeks .
I believe that all scientific efforts to further improve the behavior of
our structures during these phenomena , should be encouraged
and your meeting here does just that.
I feel good that during this recent earthquake we did not have any casualties , which proves that scientists and engineers have done a good job over the decades following the catastrophic earthquakes of 1953.
The buildings in Kefalonia withstood well the shock even if we had to deal with a strong earthquake close to the surface with very high acceleration .
I am also proud to say that the General Secretariat of Public Works with the Services and Organizations it supervises Namely the :
Earthquake Damaged Buildings Compensation Service (YAS )
The Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization (OASP )and the Building Infrastructure S.A. responded immediately and efficiently to the needs that arose, dispatching groups of engineers to examine the buildings (private & public ) the soonest possible so that the owners would know the situation they were in .
With the help of local authorities all relevant actions were taken inorder to protect life and give solutions to the everyday problems that arose.
Additionally , our people assisted in the execution of emergency works to restore vehicle traffic in the island where it was disrupted .
They assisted in the examination of the airport building so as to restore airtraffic and the port which was severely damaged.
Your conference falls right in place , several months after the arthquakes to set the floor for fruitful exchange of scientific knowledge and experience to improve structures and exhibit existing tools available for that purpose.
I wish you to have two productive days and enjoy the beauties of
Kefalonia as well.
