A massive forest fire broke out on Tuesday Fires continue to rage in forests and residential areas An earthquake has struck the outskirts of the historic city of Athens – threatening several areas and leaving thousands of people unable to breathe properly in the Greek capital.
The area affected by this year’s worst fires in Greece is so vast that it could accommodate four airports of Delhi or nearly half of the industrial city of Noida in Uttar Pradesh, according to an analysis of satellite images by India Today.
The images, taken on Monday, August 12, by US Earth-imaging firm Planet Lab PBC, showed that The wildfire burned more than 22,600 acres of landSince then, it has claimed more land.
The fire broke out on Sunday near Lake Marathon, about 35 kilometers northeast of Athens, spreading to Mount Pendeli and reaching the capital’s picturesque suburbs in the north – burning down many homes and businesses.
Hundreds of firefighters, aided by fire trucks and water-bombing aircraft, tried to control the blaze, which engulfed homes, vehicles and extremely dry forest.
The fire blanketed the city of Athens in smoke and ash, causing panic in areas where a similar fire had not occurred so close to the centre for decades, Reuters reports.
According to officials, a man was found dead in Vrilissia, about 14 km from central Athens.
The cause of the forest fire has not been ascertained yet.
High alert will remain in place in Greece until Thursday as strong winds are expected and temperatures are forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius.
Local media reported that the air had become “hazardous to human health” due to a sharp increase in PM2.5 particles. The atmosphere in southern Athens was described as “suffocating”, with concentrations of more than 200 micrograms per cubic metre. The problem was exacerbated by strong winds, which carried the smoke more than 300 kilometres from its source, according to European meteorological satellite Meteosat-11.
Local newspaper Proto Thema reported that the damage caused by the fire spread over an area of 100 square kilometres and included 100 houses.
More than 30 neighbourhoods were forced to evacuate, as were at least three hospitals, with power cut across much of the Athens area. Passenger boats heading to the port of Rafina, northeast of the capital, were rerouted.
Forest fires have been common during summer in Greece for years, but climate change has caused the weather to become hotter and rainfall to decrease, creating ideal conditions for large-scale fires.
The southern European country experienced the warmest winter on record this year and was headed for the hottest summer on record, with little rainfall in many areas for several months. The deteriorating situation was visible across southern Europe, including Spain and the Balkans.