Douns: What do cracking experts investigate
The local community in Heraklion, Crete, remains extremely anxious, due to the appearance of extensive cracks in the soil and the poor state of the houses, a large number of which have been deemed inappropriate.
NTUA’s technical geology and geological engineering professor, Konstantinos Loupasakis, explained to ERT that it was a landslide and that cracks are not the result of a seismic activity in the area but what scientists have seen is an increase in moisture.
« We have a formation that is prone to landslides, a leafy marga that, when it widespread, loses much of its engineers. This marga has begun to showcase, « the professor said.
Tens of meters are running through houses’ yards and road sections in douns
And he added: « Now the time with which these movements are made is not clear right now, so yesterday we have placed some witnesses to see how the formation is moving and this is why the settlement is built on a back, so it has both sides. »
Douns: The direction of traveling
The professor added, among other things, that the quiz we have to solve right now is whether these movements are made in one direction, that is, whether it moves towards one slope or if we have independent or contented movements that are made towards both slopes of the settlement.
He also said, among other things, that the factors that cause a landslide are the preparatory and the opponents. « Preparatory factors in this case are that we have two slopes on either side of the settlement, it is that we have geological formations that are sensitive to the manifestation of these phenomena, so we have a sharp morphology, bad geological formations. It is the existence of the settlement above and obviously the loads it imposes exacerbate the problems. «
Subsequently, Mr. Loupasakis added that « the respective factors also arise from the exclusion of some parameters. That is, we did not have earthquakes so we cannot say that the seismic activity of the area could have activated these phenomena. What we have seen is that we have an increase in moisture. But which must take place for a long time. «
Finally, Mr. Loupasakis referred to the Municipality of Heraklion, saying that « we are lucky to be activated instantly, we saw that in less than a week the state mechanism and scientific bodies were activated ». As for the possibility of cracks in other homes, « this exists as the phenomenon is very new, we do not yet know the pace at which the movements are made. »
It is recalled that the Heraklion Vouzas were put into a state of emergency last Monday – with a one -month power – to address the needs of the resulting needs and the management of the consequences of the intense landslide.
Three negative factors
Professor of Geology Abraham Zelilidis stressed on Monday in MEGA that the village is built on a mountain range and is on a rock. « Its substrate is easily eroded. In this case we have three negative factors. The first is that the pipeline broke and for three days it watered the surface that divides the rock with the impenetrable, which is aluminum and which is inflated and causes landslides in itself. «
Speaking to MEGA on the issue of the pipeline that broke, DEYAI President George Vourexakis rejects that the water leak is responsible for sedimentation of the soil. « There is no issue. We had the cracks first and after a few hours the water was introduced. The pipes had been moved, so it is more likely that moving the soil broke the pipes. The water leak is later than cracks, ”he said.
The second crucial issue, according to Mr. Zelilidis, is the slope of the mattresses. « For me this phenomenon is extremely evolving and dangerous. Most likely to detach large pieces of rocks. The separation surface must be drained and somehow dry this surface. It is one of the difficult phenomena that are ongoing. I think it’s going to be done in the next four days. I think these houses will not be safe for people to stay after, « he said.
A similar spirit is also the estimates of Efthimi Lekka, who after the first autopsy stated that the phenomenon is ongoing, so it can be expanded. « We are dealing with two territorial burglaries about 150 meters each. They are in different places in the village. They have caused failures in construction, homes, public spaces and networks. It is a geological pure phenomenon, which is ongoing. It has appeared for about a week. These burglaries are expanded.
