Scope
ESC2008 is planned to cover with oral and poster sessions all aspects of earthquake and engineering seismology, related hazards (e.g. tsunami hazard), seismology-related topics like geodynamics and physics of the Earth’s interior, earthquake risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies and technologies including early warning systems and civil protection aspects (see scientific programme) .
Exhibitions
Exhibitions of scientific instruments, books, journals and other material relevant to the ESC2008 scope are scheduled to be organized in the General Assembly area.
Social Programme
The LOC organizes the social programme in collaboration with Kyriakakis Travel and the Creta Maris Conference Center (see Social Programme & Field Trips) .
How to Reach at the Venue
The city of Heraklion is connected with the Athens airport by several flights daily.
The Athens-Heraklion flight time is about 40min. Heraklion is also connected with direct flights with several European destinations.
Large ferry-boats sail daily from Piraeus, the port of Athens, to Heraklion. Car driving from Heraklion to the ESC2008 venue takes about 20 min. Local buses connect Heraklion with Hersonissos village. The LOC offers free transfer to the ESC2008 venue to participants arriving at the airport of Heraklion on 7th September 2008.
Free transfer back to the airport of Heraklion will be also offered to participants who plan to depart on 12th September 2008
(for free transfers please contact: Kyriakakis Travel ).
Currency
The currency in Greece is Euro as in most of the European Union state-members.
Earthquake and Tsunami History of Crete
The high seismicity and volcanism in the Hellenic arc-trench system makes the area around Crete the most highly tsunamigenic in the Mediterranean Sea and Europe.
Past volcanic eruptions and tsunami disasters were linked either with archaeology, like the decline of the Minoan civilization, or with legends like that of lost Atlantis.
It is instrumentally, historically, archaeologically and geologically documented that Crete was hit in the past by large, destructive earthquakes and tsunamis, like the Minoan tsunami wave (17th Century BC) generated by the gigantic Thera volcano eruption, the AD365 earthquake and tsunami event in the western Hellenic arc, the 1303 earthquake and tsunami event in the eastern Hellenic arc, the 1650 tsunami caused by an extra-caldera submarine eruption in Thera volcanic complex, and the large earthquake and tsunami of 9 July 1956 in the South Aegean Sea.