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Extinguishing work on Saturday near Athens
Photo: Michalis Karagiannis / imago images / ANE Edition
In Greece, 64 forest and bush fires broke out within 24 hours.
So far, all fires have been brought under control, announced the fire brigade on Sunday.
Fire-fighting planes and helicopters as well as hundreds of firefighters and volunteers were on duty.
The Greek civil defense also warned of fires for central Greece and the island of Crete on Sunday.
For half of the country there is therefore a great risk of fire.
The biggest fire blazed on the island of Evia on Saturday.
The fire broke out in forests near the town of Nea Styra in the southern part of the island for a previously unknown cause and spread quickly due to strong winds.
One village had to be evacuated.
One man was arrested.
He is said to have tried to burn dry leaves and tree branches.
There was also a fire on the mainland, including in northeastern Athens and near the port city of Volos.
In parts of Greece, temperatures of 35 to 40 degrees have prevailed for two weeks, and strong winds are blowing that fan the fire.
The combination of heat and winds lead to forest fires in Greece every summer.
In 2018, 102 people died in a fire in the coastal town of Mati near Athens.
Series of earthquakes near Athens
A series of small and medium-sized earthquakes are also worrying people in the middle of the country.
Dozens of tremors between 3.0 and 4.3 magnitude occurred on Saturday and until Sunday noon local time.
There were also several minor tremors.
They were felt above all in the Boeotia region around 40 kilometers northeast of Athens near Thebes and also in the Greek capital.
"Here the earth trembles every ten minutes during the day and at night," said a woman on television describing the current situation.
Residents feared that the series could herald a much stronger quake.
“It's an unusual phenomenon.
We're watching it, ”a spokesman for the Athens Geodynamic Institute said on state radio.
irb / AFP / dpa
