Specific relief measures were announced on Wednesday for quake-stricken residents in and around Arkalohori, in central Crete, two days after a 5.8 on the Richter scale earthquake hit the area.
The Church of Crete’s Metropolitan of Arkalohori, Kastelli & ViAnnos, His Eminence Andreas, participated in a press briefing held by government officials and civil defense authorities, where he noted that the state’s apparatus has been immediately activated to deal with the damages, offer assistance and commence repairs.
Local media in the area showed footage from the damage done to the chapel of St. George, while the Holy Monastery of the Theotokos of Aga-RA-thou, in Iraklio, sustained heavy damages, according to the monastery’s abbot, rendering monks’ living quarters as uninhabitable.
In a related development, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, on Wednesday conveyed his solidarity and compassion to the Archbishop of Crete, His Eminence Irineos, on behalf of the Mother Church for those affected from the quake.