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GEOREF RECORD

The 373 B.C. Helike (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) earthquake and tsunami, revisited; discussion

Dora Katsonopoulou and Ioannis Koukouvelas

Seismological Research Letters (April 2022) 93 (4): 2401-2405

Abstract

We are writing this comment because the presentation and the conclusions reached by Stiros (2022) regarding the catastrophic Helike earthquake of 373 B.C. neglect significant historical sources and scientific data from longstanding geoarchaeological work and excavations in the Helike region and offer an incomplete picture of the knowledge acquired about this famous earthquake of Classical Greece. In particular, the attempted re-examination of ancient sources is incomplete and subjective, serving the author's a priori view that accounts of the 373 B.C. earthquake are later fabrications from Roman times. To this end, Stiros neglects published archaeological data dated from soon after the 373 B.C. catastrophe and wrongly concludes that the area did not experience repeated earthquake phenomena. Furthermore, his proposal that the Helike and Aigion faults are identical is an evident geological error. Instead, the two faults are 5 km apart, and their seismological evolution and tectonic geomorphology are quite different.


ISSN: 0895-0695
EISSN: 1938-2057
Serial Title: Seismological Research Letters
Serial Volume: 93
Serial Issue: 4
Modified Title: The 373 B.C. Helike (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) earthquake and tsunami, revisited; discussion
Affiliation: Helike Society and the Helike Project, Athens, Greece
Pages: 2401-2405
Published: 20220428
Text Language: English
Publisher: Seismological Society of America, El Cerrito, CA, United States
References: 51
Accession Number: 2022-026069
Categories: Seismology
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Annotation: For reference to original see Stiros, S. C., Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 93, No. 1, p. 444-457, DOI: 10.1785/0220210092, 2022
Illustration Description: illus. incl. 1 table
N38°00'00" - N38°49'60", E22°00'00" - E23°00'00"
Secondary Affiliation: University of Patras, GRC, Greece
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2022, American Geosciences Institute. Abstract, Copyright, Seismological Society of America. Reference includes data from GeoScienceWorld, Alexandria, VA, United States
Update Code: 202221
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