Travel News - If you are travelling to Greece or have any friends
relatives in Greece on holidays, as you might have heard they are
having problems with fires. To make things worse there was an
earthquake.

I have written the full article in DAS.

http://www.dialashop.com/travelnews/index.html

The strong earthquake hit fire-ravaged southern Greece. The Athens
Geodynamic Institute says it had a magnitude of five. There were no
immediate reports of injuries or damage. The quake struck just after
noon and had an epicentre 185 kilometres west of Athens, 15
kilometres east of Pyrgos near Ancient Olympia. The quake panicked
residents in the region and was felt in areas where firefighters
were battling blazes.

Fighting the Fires in Greece

Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined in battling wildfires on
Tuesday that have burned nearly a half-million acres and killed 64
people in five days in what Greece's president called a "national
catastrophe."

The devastating blazes have infuriated Greeks — already stunned by
deadly forest fires in June and July — and appear likely to dominate
political debate before general elections scheduled for Sepember 16.
Many blamed the conservative government for failing to respond
quickly enough.

Firefighters themselves have also come under criticism as
disorganized and late to arrive. Some people also blamed a previous
government's decision in 1998 to transfer responsibility for
battling blazes from the forestry department to the national fire
department.

Vic