#GREECE QUAKE

[a-daya]

6th map for the Tomb of Thunder campaign for Quake, named "Her Throne, Now Mine" (plot relevance in the title, oooo~)

It is a short map, but it's one that still took me 3 months to make, mostly for the final boss, which I had to code (even if I was using Cthon's as a base), model, texture, and design the final arena properly

But now it is done (aside from ironing out some stuff with the model like animations and texture) and am now on track to work on the secret level

[brilmans]

Old Vlachata, Kefalonia, Griekenland

[kyriat-sims]

Kastro Daskalió

A visit to Kastro Daskalió will be a visit to remember! This is a build made for my Early Civilization save, but can easily be adapted to more modern times if you are not stuck in the past like me 😁.

More info, photos and download link below the cut

The shape was inspired by the pyramid shaped ancient Daskalió, a small islet west of Keros in Greece. It's has really fascinating history, going back almost 5000 years, and the archaeologists are still excavating. Read more here.

I built this on the Chieftain's Villa lot in Sulani, but you can place it wherever you want. It's CC heavy, and will not look good without it. As always I've included a list with links for all items used.

Info about this lot Residential lot Lotsize: 40x30 Bedr/bath: 10+5 Value: 214.100 Lot traits: Good Schools, Natural Light, Sunny Aspect, Quake Zone Fully furnished and decorated (a couple of rooms are empty) 4 playable floors Ground floor: Entrance, WC, Dining room, Throne room, Kitchen, Office, Living room, bedroom, bath, empty room, 1st floor: Art studio, bedrooms, baths 2nd floor: Bedrooms, bath 3rd floor: Gym, Workshop, Weaver room

Several packs and kits are used for this build. More details here.

The lot contains some of my own recolors/CC, and I've also used CC from the following creators:

@ameyasims - Angela - @aroundthesims - @balkanikabg - @blackyssims4zoo - @dravenxivsims4cc - @ellemant - Esmeralda - Evi - Freeasabird - @serenebluesims - @gleamer - Hahhasims - @historicalsimslife - @hamburgercakes - @kardofe - @kerriganhouse - @lilis-palace - @lina-cherie - @linzlu - Mammut - Mxims - @myshunosun - @peacemaker-ic - Philo - @pilarcr - @ravasheencc - @satisimbuilds - @satterlly - @irinaseverinka - @simcredibledesigns - @simsnowtato - @simverses - @siomisimsvault - @soloriya - @srslysims - @syboubou - @thesims4versaillescollection - @xmasmonkey - @zx-ta

A PDF with details and links for all CC is included.

Thanks to all the wonderful creators for making the game more interesting! 💕

📥Download (SFS)

More of my stuff at my blog: My cc - lots - sims - saves. Always free!

Hello @allhistoricalcc - @anitasims - @emilyccfinds - @itsjessicaccfinds - @mmfinds - @public-ccfinds - @simshistoricalfinds - @sssvitlanz

Thank you for sharing!   💕

[xavierknightsbridge]

The Greek Hero's Belly

Art by the amazing @the-elusive-libbin

Gastridoulos touched the amulet that hung between his ample pectoral muscles. It depicted a bare man’s torso, with a handsome chest and a bulging swollen belly hanging below the pecs. It was the symbol of Gastidolous’ father - the divine God of Appetite, alternately known as the God of Belly. 

The God of Belly’s sole commandment was the filling of his divine gut, and the spreading of pleasure through the satisfaction of his godly gut. This pleasure extended to making sons - handsome demigods like Gastridolous. These sons shared all of their father’s gifts - and the privileges owed to him - and to his belly, whose human representatives in Greece were his sons’ mighty stomachs. 

Gastidolous considered the amulet, sitting in the cleft between the twin muscled halves of his bare chest, and smiled as his own bare belly (swollen slightly from the digesting remnants of his last meal) let out a hungry grumble. It was well past time he performed his service to his father - and filled his belly out to its proper size. 

And there, pinned to a stake on the hill ahead, was his meal. The local village wished to thank him for his help ridding them of a monstrous lion, and had left out a fresh sacrifice to the divine hero. Gastidolous licked his full lips in anticipation as he considered his meal, stripped naked and tied to the post. Hardening in his loincloth, Gastridolous swaggered towards the stake, tying his hair back as he did so, in readiness for his feast. 

The handsome goatherd looked up from the post he was tied to at the gorgeous bare-chested hero approaching him. His village’s saviour - and his fate. The hero placed an admiring hand on the young man’s bare chest, and asked him his name. 

“Galen,” the young man said, nervous with fear - and anticipation, 

“Well, in the name of the God of Appetite,” Gastidolous said, warm, honeyed voice speaking the ritual words, “I rename you belly.” 

And not waiting a second more, he untied his meal and began to feast. 

*** 

Gastridolous let out a belch that echoed across the hills as he swallowed down the kicking feet of his sacrifice, sealing him in the fleshy tomb of his big bare belly for good. The golden-haired hero looked down in smug pride at the wobbling, swollen expanse of belly that hung like Atlas’ globe beneath his smooth planes of pectoral muscle. His round nipples were hard as his hero’s cock as his food (formerly known as Galen) struggled futilely inside him. Gastridolous sighed with bliss as he watched his big, distended belly squirm, a handprint visible against the stretched, taut skin of his bloated stomach. Gastridolous loved nothing more than a sacrifice that struggled. It brought even more pleasure to his divine belly, to feel his food plead and squirm within his godly globe of gut. 

“Ah Galen,” the hero said in tones of pleasure, “You do my belly such honour by pleasuring him with the sweetness of your sweating, handsome flesh - and with your movements within me. But this is where you belong - as part of my belly for good. I shall digest you and your body, your energies, will belong to me. But my belly will always remember you, and you should be honoured to be part of a hero’s belly for always.” 

Gastridolous gave his distended smooth sphere of belly a satisfied smack, causing his big man-eating belly to bounce and wobble, and he let out another great belly-quaking belch as his godly stomach began to digest his meal of unwilling human sacrifice. It was good to be a god, he thought, as he began to convert the young man into a smooth sack of post-vore belly, a swollen sphere of gut that would hang below his mighty hero’s chest for days - until of course it was time to fill up his belly once more. 

Gastridolous descended the hill, belly bouncing and gurgling as he feasted on Galen’s lovely body, belly button yawning like a great chasm in his middle. Thus sated on the meat of a beautiful young man, Gastridolous was ready to perform more hero’s deeds - and earn more living meat for his big divine belly as he did so. He slapped his distended man-eating bare belly once more, and grinned. It was good and proper to fill his belly so - after all, it was a god in its own right. And gods always demand sacrifices. 

[flores-et-dracones]

Who did they pray to,

The dying and the dead,

Mothers for their sons,

Sisters for their brothers?

I would shear my head,

Rip my face open,

Drown Greece with tears,

And flood wretched Troy.

I would bleed my nails,

I would stain my soft skin,

This is the face that torched

The citadels of Troy.

For this body, my body,

Her men and maidens burned.

The earth was quaking,

I gave birth to tears and blood.

Pray for good fortune?

No, pray for mercy.

- Euripides’ Helen: A Version by Frank McGuinness

[lesharl-eclair]

lewis ot3 fic recs

for @f1ot3fest !! i promised myself i wouldn't ramble but this turned out ridiculously long so ... i actually need to learn to shut up

all fics below the cut; if you enjoyed these fics, please show the authors comment and kudo love; should you be the author of a fic that's here, and don't want to be here, please reach out to me and your wish is my command :)

NO this is so funny bcs half of this is fics by the creator/recced by the creator BUT ITS OK. THESE LITERALLY ARE SO DEAR TO ME *clutches to chest* please go read please go read

***

heist AU by @sionisjaune (sebcedes)

on golden sands (T, 6.2k)

Mark rolls his eyes. “Skip the crap, Jense. Who’s the mark.” Jenson lifts his whiskey and swallows the dregs. “One Baron Nico Rosberg. Currently installed in Greece, inherited the title from his mother. His father—” “Keke Rosberg. 1982 Formula One World Drivers Champion,” says Seb. The others look at him like he’s just materialized out of thin air. Lewis cocks his head thoughtfully, and the bizarre sleeves of his jacket rustle with the movement.

the ships that go sailing (E, 11.7k)

As it turns out, threesomes are not especially logistically challenging when two of the participants are experienced organizers of high-profile heists, and the third is determinedly horny.

err okay i think this was something i read before i had the concept of sebcedes or like ot3s. so it was a pure yOU CAN DO THAT??? visceral reaction the first time i read on golden sands. i was quaking in my seat. anyway upon sufficient rereads i have apparently collected my thoughts enough to say that the first part of the series is nothing like the second in terms of content (i read all the way to the middle of the ships that go sailing and suddenly realised that it was a sequel and uh. had a very violent reaction.)

the premise is wonderful, oceans 11 is great to begin with and the way every detail is taken care of in the au!! the characterisation of it all... the tangled mess of interpersonal relationship... it feels like every character has their space to shine, and this on top of a quasi-convoluted plot is quite incredible. aND THE SEBCEDES OH MY GOD THE SEBCEDES. the denouement. the start of something that seb can;t even begin to imagine. lewis and nico both being batshit crazy. sex retirement fic. somehow you managed to capture all the nuances (brocedes + seb + the emotional push pull + the competition?? a bit of quiet almost fragile sico? the boat scene hello??? brocedes being so chaotic it gives me whiplash?????) i actually cannot get enough of the way you write them

i can probably write so much more about this but i will stop here :0 maybe one day i will rereview this and end up with a five page essay or something. who knows.

***

Circle Endless by @antimonyandthyme (E, 2k) (brocedes + seb)

“It’s a two-for-one deal,” Nico said, very salesman like, as if he sensed Sebastian just needed an extra push.

the vibes here are so horrifically good. lowkey unhealthy. probably one of THE defining brocedes + seb fics - it's set up and played out as a 2v1 (in 2016!!), and the toxicity of it all is so asasasandsjfadjsfasdfs . there's so much conflict everywhere: within seb, the way brocedes also fight for dominance on the bed (bc of course they do), seb needing more despite whatever it's doing to him... that scene with kimi is pure poetry. so much to unpack in so little, and excellent excellent sex

***

made a hundred good stories by @red-flagging (E, 24.6k) (for a kinkmeme prompt) (alex + sewis)

“That problem you were telling me about,” Seb says, giving Alex a meaningful look. “I wanted to know if you wanted us to help you take care of it. Lewis and I.” This isn’t happening. Alex is having the most stressful, least erotic wet dream of all time. Helmut has gotten bored of subtle nudges and has graduated to full-on psychological warfare to get Alex to quit on his own and save the team from having to buy out his contract. Lewis actually did give him a concussion in Austria, and the long-term brain damage is only now starting to set in. "...You can't be serious," Alex says weakly. Seb shrugs. “You don’t have to say yes,” he says. “But if you’re just looking to have some fun–it might as well be with people who know what they’re doing.”

ok claire. coherence.

I CANNOT BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS FIC LIKE AT ALL??? i have tried so many times

the alex characterisation. the hellhole that is redbull. the exhaustion. so much DETAIL that it's painful to look at

the galex? the galex. oh my god the way it meanders in all the little spaces between alex's frankly ridiculously busy life, the LAYERS. the so much unsaid & the way they dance around each other even in texts. the way alex holds himself back but still wants.

alex/seb. seb being an all round menace to society (Quite honestly, he sort of forgets the conversation with Lewis even happened up until Bahrain, when Seb sidles up to him on some balcony on Thursday and says, casually, “So, gay cruising, eh?”) ?????? ? ? ? ? the perfect timing of seb's proposition. so much else but the deviousness of it all..

that little bit with alex and lewis. the painful awkwardness of that conversation (but also how much lewis eventually got out of it). seb's retirement & lewis' instant protectiveness!! ^^

the racing metaphors are so apt somehow (and even more fitting because alex has basically been consumed by the redbull grind........) this is a detail i personally really really enjoyed

THE SEX bro i cannot even?????? ???? i cannot do it justice here but um. the sewis is clearly there and framed so strikingly against a hesitant tired alex. the games sewis play. LEWIS GUIDING ALEX.SFSHHGSHGHHHHGG the car's still spinning and the walls that don't exist...... how at the end of it all it's still only glimpses of sewis that alex gets but how it's enough for him to maybe start figuring things out with georgie.... the post sex clarity....

oh this was so damn incoherent wasn't it. this fic made me, to quote @kritischetheologie, reconsider everything i thought i knew about alex albon.

***

a bedroom where your heart is by @hungerpunch (M, 1.5k) (vasewis)

“Someone will have to go for ingredients,” Valtteri says. He does not happen to keep vegan cheese stocked. “I vote the youngest,” Sebastian says, grin sly. Valtteri blinks. “Wait—” “Sorry,” Sebastian says, affecting a suspiciously convincing faux innocence, as if he’s truly apologetic but his hands are simply tied. “Seniority rules.”

closing this with some good achingly wholesome content. FOOD AS LOVE and i am so so so here for it oh my goddddd ... val taking care of sewis and finding the greatest satisfaction from it/it not being always about the sex (though the sex IS good!) and finding contentment in those small domestic-bliss moments/the scene-setting, the food described as lovingly as it's prepared, the quiet early-hour moments and seb in a way the middleground between val's discipline and lewis' indulgence when it comes to mornings... there's so much to just revel in and enjoy here!! a comfort fic in the truest senst of the word. :)

***

that was long. and probably extremely incoherent. oh well. thanks for reading till the end and remember to show the authors some love!!

as always, if you enjoyed this, or if i missed any fic, please let me know :) drop me an ask mayhaps if you would like more fic recs, and i will try my best to give timely unqualified opinions <3

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Legendary Warrior Women of the Ancient World

Once upon a time, there were women who challenged the might of empires and the laws of men.

They beckoned a world where the whisper of a woman's voice could quake the thrones of tyrants.

Let's delve into these legends from antiquity. 🧵⤵️

Hatshepsut

The fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Hatshepsut reigned longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.

She was one of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt.

To legitimize her reign, Hatshepsut claimed she was divinely conceived by the god Amun, who appeared to her mother in the guise of the pharaoh Thutmose I, her father.

Sappho

An ancient Greek poet from the island of Lesbos, Sappho is celebrated for her lyric poetry, which explores love and passion.

Legend says that Sappho leaped from the Leucadian cliffs due to her unrequited love for Phaon, a ferryman, demonstrating the depth of her emotional expressions that permeated her work.

Artemisia I of Caria

A queen of the ancient Greek city-state of Caria and an ally of Xerxes I during the Second Persian invasion of Greece.

In the Battle of Salamis, Artemisia was so cunning in combat that she intentionally rammed her ally's ship to escape the Greeks, convincing them she was an ally and thus avoiding capture.

Hypatia

A mathematician, astronomer and philosopher in Alexandria, Egypt, Hypatia was a renowned teacher and thinker.

Hypatia was known to drive through Alexandria in her chariot to deliver public lectures on philosophy, defying the gender expectations of her time.

Boudicca

The warrior queen of the Iceni tribe who led a major uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire in Britain.

After the Romans flogged Boudicca and raped her daughters, she rallied her tribe and neighboring tribes for revenge, resulting in the destruction of Roman settlements and the decimation of the Roman Ninth Legion.

The Trung Sisters: Trung Trac and Trung Nhi

Vietnamese military leaders who rebelled against Chinese Han dynasty rule, becoming enduring symbols of resistance.

The sisters, after witnessing the suffering of their people under Chinese rule, famously declared their independence by proclaiming:

"All the male heroes bowed their heads in submission; only the two sisters proudly stood up to avenge the country."

Khawlah bint al-Azwar

A legendary female Muslim warrior, she fought alongside the early Muslims in the battles against the Byzantine Empire.

Khawlah famously donned male warrior’s armor to rescue her brother from a Byzantine prison camp, charging into battle with such ferocity that opponents assumed she was a supernatural entity.

Joan of Arc

A French heroine and saint of the Catholic Church, Joan led French forces to victory over the English at Orléans.

Joan persuaded a skeptical Charles VII of France of her divine mission to save France by correctly predicting a military reversal at the Siege of Orleans, before any messenger could have reached them with the news.

Zenobia

The third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria who challenged the authority of the Roman Empire.

Zenobia was so bold that she claimed descent from Cleopatra, positioning herself as the Egyptian queen's successor in defiance of Rome and marched her armies as far as Egypt and Anatolia.

Cleopatra VII

The last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra is known for her intelligence, political acumen, and dramatic love affairs.

In a famous encounter to secure her alliance with Julius Caesar, Cleopatra had herself wrapped in a carpet (or linen sack, according to some accounts) and delivered to him, emerging to charm Caesar with her wit and beauty.

[madamlaydebug]

As within...so without...find balance in self so these self projections will stop manifesting chaos...or is this just necessary change for the new earth? Is there anything new about you to coincide with this new earth you're talking about? What is man's relationship with his environment?

Just incase you didnt know: 😞😞

🔥 California is on fire.

🔥 Oregon is on fire.

🔥 Washington is on fire.

🔥 British Columbia is on fire.

🔥 Alberta is on fire

🔥 Montana is on fire.

🔥 Nova Scotia is on fire.

🔥 Greece is on fire.

🔥 Brazil is on fire.

🔥 Portugal is on fire.

🔥 Algeria is on fire.

🔥 Tunisia is on fire.

🔥 Greenland is on fire.

🔥 The Sakha Republic of Russia is on fire.

🔥 Siberia is on fire.

⛈️Texas is under water

⛈️ India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, experience record monsoons and massive death toll.

⛈️ Sierra Leone and Niger experience massive floods, mudslides, and deaths in the thousands.

🌞Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia are crushed in the death grip of a triple digit heat wave, dubbed Lucifer.

🌞Southern California continues to swelter under triple digit heat that shows no sign of letting up.

🌞In usually chilly August, the city of San Francisco shatters all-time record at 106 degrees, while it reaches 115 degrees south of the city. Northern California continues to bake in the triple digits.

((🌎)) Yellowstone volcano is hit with earthquake swarm of over 2,300 tremors since June, recording a 4.4 quake on June 15, 20017 and 3.3 shaker on August 21, 2017.

((🌎)) 5.3 earthquake rumbles through Idaho

((🌎)) Japan earthquake 6.1 possible tsunami..

((🌎)) Mexico earthquake 8.2 imminent tsunami. Beach lines are receded atleast 50+ meters

🌊Hurricanes Harvey, Irma (biggest ever recorded), Jose and Katia are barreling around the Atlantic with 8 more potentials forming

And last but not least an X10 C.M.E solar flare last night . The highest recorded solar flare ever!

#wakeupfromthatsunkenplace

[feybeasts]

Got any underrated/not-well-known video games you like?

the Easy Answer here is “I play flight sims”, but that’s not a satisfying answer

World In Conflict and its expansion are still my favorite RTS games, with their blend of a genuinely compelling story and really solid gameplay- fantastic game, killed too soon by Being Owned By Ubisoft, the bastards.

HROT is a really great Quake-like shooter with some REALLY bizarre niche humor about Communist Czechoslovakia, definitely a great game if you love the boomshoots.

Titan Quest is a great ARPG if you’re into that but don’t want to commit to Diablo’s live service crap or the behemoth that is Path of Exile. Ancient greece/china/egypt bent is a fun angle too.

And because I can’t help myself and not include at least one sim- Cold Waters is a really good cold war subsim if you’re into the sneaky underwater shootyboats

[a-daya]

His Still-Breathing Corpse, the fifth map out of seven of my custom Quake campaign, Tomb of Thunder

Just have to tweak monster placements regarding different difficulties, and we're good to test

This is the result of 5 months of work 💪

[dimalink]

Colin McRae Rally 2 – snow, sand and tea at the country house

For a long time, I planned to get to genre of racing games. Rally, for example. Or something like arcade racing to play. For diversity. I like such not complicated games like shooters. For example, second Quake. So, you walk and shoot. Complete a labyrinth. Or like a racing games. You ride. Make a turns from time to time.

To speed down in turns. Maybe, it is more about arcade racing games. So, I planned for a long time to reach racing games genre. Except shooters.

And this moment is here. First such game for me it is a rally style game. Colin McRae Rally 2. It is rather well designed and interesting racing game. With a different game modes. And very good about graphics. Even more to say – excellent. And very involving game process. And I make a race with mode single race. You have several tracks at your choice. Different. There is sands, Greece. There is snow, some northern country. There is Italy, or something like that. And several cars to select. And when you are on the race, to change view. Something like view from a hood, some aside, and more far view. More close view. It is very remarkable.

In such games, for a long time, already, developers know how to make a very cool and cinematic like a movie replays. This thing, already, looks like a movie. So, here we have a cool replay too. So, right after the race, you see how you do it. As a movie!

Racing tracks are interesting. You need to learn track. As labyrinth, something like this. To know what places you can go faster. And what place has a raw turn, or big turn. And what place you need to be more carefully. Car can go in aside. And rush into the bushes. And also, you can ride straight in a tree on some winter track. So, this game has lots of places, where you can go off the track! And this makes this game interesting. Also, it is not hard to play this game. And you can simply have some tracks during your weekend. To make a circle after circle. And do like this. For free time and relax, I do one more circle.

And it has a very cool and stylish game menu. It is a style. That’s for sure. And game at the very start, it has a movie intro. Such an intro, u know. Cool intro. Video. The way you need to drive in game. To make a cool turns. Sunlight straight into the eyes. Such a beautiful and epic frames. And this game is play like something that in this movie intro, same style. Full action. Good arcade level. It is goes dynamically and not boring at all!

Right now, I practiced in single race. I played in this mode only. For relax. But, game also has another game modes. Which I will try one by one! At this moment game gives you mass of emotions. A real rally! Emotions, drive. So, game has it. And, I repeat, that I even don’t try all game modes yet. And I all the time do one more circle. I drink a tea. And make a circle. So, it is excellent summer countryside retro weekend.

In some old times I played in first part. When it was just released. It was a new game in those times. I remember that. And I launch it. In those times. And I like a lot first part. And only one sad thing, that I have a disc with game only for one day. To play. To try it. New for me genre of rally racing games.

And now I start from second part. So, I think, I need to try first part again too. Game control is light and good. There is automatically transmission. Well, you can set a manual too. But, I play with auto. So, it is more easier.

Several times I try attack time mode. And, as idea, you are with yourself. With your ghost. As it named in a racing games. It is also rather nice things. Try to get a better result, than your previous best result. Make a circle. Make a second one. It is appearing at the track your ghost. And you try to make your result better. You have a competition with yourself. So, I spent some time in this mode too.

But, most of time, I pay attention to single race mode. I like, mainly, arcade racing games. With good graphics. Some diversity at the racing track. Cars. So, I ride with virtual wind. Who don’t like this games. Game makes a most positive impressions. From a very first meet. And ahead it is still a summer days. Country house. Retro gaming. And new game modes! Which it will so cool to try! But single race is really good! It is racing cool!

Playing little games. From time to time i like to play videogames. And write about it. Dima Link is making retro videogames, apps, a little of music, write stories, and some retro more.

WEBSITE: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html ITCHIO: https://dimalink.itch.io/ GAMEJOLT: https://gamejolt.com/@DimaLink/games

BLOGGER: https://dimalinkeng.blogspot.com/ TUMBLR: https://dimalink.tumblr.com/

[brilmans]

Old Vlachata

Voor de westkust van het Griekse vaste land precies op de breuklijn tussen de Euraziatische en de Egeïsche platen liggen de Ionische eilanden.

De vorming van de Ionische eilanden vond plaats in het Kwartair, als gevolg van intens compressietektonisme en opwaartse kracht hetgeen duidelijk te zien is in het landschap aan de diagonale gelaagde kalksteen formaties en de verhoogde paleo-kustlijnen aangetroffen in de vorm van mariene erosiesporen.

De vorming van de eilandengroep is sinds het begin in het Beneden-Plioceen feitelijk niet meer gestopt. In 1953, geologische zeer recente geleden dus, werd het gebied getroffen hevige aardbevingen. De zwaarste met een kracht van 7,2 op de schaal van Richter. Op het zuidelijke deel van Kefalonia was de impact het grootst. Daar kwam de grond 60 centimeter omhoog. Dit met verwoestende gevolgen. Ook hiervan zijn de sporen goed zichtbaar. In de heuvels achter Karavomylos liggen Vlachata en Poularde twee door de aardbeving verwoeste dorpen die sindsdien verlaten zijn. Daar heeft behalve de tijd niemand meer wat aan gedaan.

Een wandeling door deze voormalige dorpen is meer dan een bijzondere ervaring.

[anamedblog]

“How to Live with Earthquakes”

Artemis Papatheodorou, ANAMED Post-doctoral Fellow (2022–2023)

Fig. 1. Damage caused by the earthquake in 1894 to the Grand Bazaar (Source: Ataturk Library, IBB, İstanbul Tarihi website: https://istanbultarihi.ist/396-a-seismic-cityscape-earthquakes-in-istanbuls-history).

In the early hours of November 23, 2022, we, ANAMED fellows, woke up at the shaking of an earthquake. Not long after that, the first message vibrated my mobile phone. More and more messages would follow, as we immediately rushed to check on each other and calm down the ones most upset by this violent, uncontrollable shaking of the earth. The earthquake that had given us such an unpleasant early morning had a magnitude of 6.0 according to the Observatory of Boğaziçi University; its epicentre was in the Düzce Gölyaka area, some 200 km away from Istanbul, and its depth was estimated at 10.6 km from the surface. A total of 93 people were injured, and two died under conditions related to the earthquake: one of a fear-induced heart attack and the other while trying to climb down a staircase to exit the building where the earthquake had found him. The severity of this shake was such that a special page is dedicated to it in Vikipedi, the Turkish-language version of Wikipedia (https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_D%C3%BCzce_depremi).

Back then, none of us could have imagined that a much worse sequence of earthquakes would hit the southern provinces of Turkey and northern Syria just a couple of months later in the early hours of February 6, 2023. This time, it was Laura, a friend from Greece, who texted me to see if everything was OK, alerted by reports on the news. The Turkey-Syria earthquake, as it would come to be known, had a magnitude of 7.8 and caused a hecatomb of victims—men, women, and children sleeping peacefully in their houses. It will be long before affected local societies are able to mend their wounds. Even for those of us who did not wake up in fear of that distant tremble, it is still hard to cope with the shock caused by footage from the ground and the news conveying the number of dead. This earthquake, too, found its way to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Turkey%E2%80%93Syria_earthquake).

I take it as a “normal” human reaction that both earthquakes were documented in this online encyclopaedia of human experience and knowledge. Earthquakes can be so destructive that they leave an indelible mark not only on people who experience them directly but even on future generations. The historical record attests to this, as in the case of an Ottoman Greek, Anastassia Andreadake, from the village of Lithri (present-day Ildır), not that far from Smyrna/Izmir (Folder on Lithri, Oral Tradition Archive, Centre for Asia Minor Studies, p. 156–57). Interviewed as late as 1961 in Greece, where she resettled after the Exchange of Populations, she recollected not her own memories of an 1882 earthquake that had hit her native village but the memories of older people who—unlike her—experienced the shaking first-hand. Such was the impression that their memories of the quake made on her that her own turbulent and traumatic life as a refugee did not make their words fade away. Anastassia started her narration as such: “I was not born in 1882 but I heard from the old ones that all houses collapsed. Our village was ruined. Many died and many more were injured.” We also learn from her that it was not long before aid came to their village. The Ottoman government in the capital sent a representative with provisions. “Dressed in gold,” he left the hard-hit villagers in awe. Here is what they said to Anastassia:

And the Turks back in our earthquakes sent us aid from Constantinople. There came a grand one. He was dressed in gold. He brought along with him timber so that we could build shacks, tents, medication and food. And he told us, “Don’t lose hope. The Sultan is committed to you. Say altogether, ‘Long live the Sultan.’” And we said, “‘Long live the Sultan.’”

Greece, too, out of solidarity with its neighbour but also with a population with which it felt strongly connected, sent men, provisions, and money:

The news of the calamity travelled to the end of the world. From Greece, there came military officers who were doctors and nurses. To tend to the people, they brought with them food, medication, bandages, tents, and they also left a lot of money when they left so that we could build our school. The money was a lot. And there was even a left over. With that we built the fountain of our village. [..] We too though gave [money] for the Greek School. It made my father happy to give some [money] to help at such moments.

Thanks to Anastassia Andreadake, we can get a closer look at responses to earthquakes in the late nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire. But aid translated in medical personnel, material, and financial provisions from the central government and abroad was not the only response to earthquakes back then. An article by Amit Bein documents how Ottoman society changed its understanding of earthquakes in the aftermath of one that hit the Marmara region hard in 1894 (“The Istanbul Earthquake of 1894 and Science in the Late Ottoman Empire,” Middle Eastern Studies, 44, no. 6 (2008): 909–24).  

Beit gives the following description of this shaking of the earth so close to the capital:

The most devastating earthquake in more than a century hit the Marmara region and the Ottoman capital shortly after noon on 10 July 1894. The effects of the tremor were felt over a radius of more than 400 kilometres, with aftershocks following both on the same day and again twice in the following week. Damage was extensive throughout the capital, but particularly in the historic city, where most of the population and centres of government were concentrated. Many minarets, church towers, synagogues, government offices and private dwellings crumbled or were severely damaged. A significant portion of the Grand Bazaar collapsed. Water systems were disrupted and all but one telegraph lines, to Russia, were damaged. The Reuter’s news agency reported from the scene that ‘there is scarcely a street in the city which does not show signs of the destructive effects of the earthquake’. The Ottoman government later estimated that more than 10,000 buildings were damaged by the seismic disturbances. Official figures put the number of dead and injured in the hundreds, but contemporaries and later historians agreed that the true number was most likely in the thousands. (p. 916)

Fig 2. Damage caused by the earthquake in 1894 to the Grand Bazaar (Source: Ataturk Library, IBB, İstanbul Tarihi website: https://istanbultarihi.ist/396-a-seismic-cityscape-earthquakes-in-istanbuls-history).

The earthquake seems to have produced the same reaction across the city’s multi-ethnic population, one sanctioning greater devotion. Halide Edib (Adıvar) recollected in her memoirs how she, then a ten-year-old girl, and other members of her family felt the need to connect deeper with God. Muslims on the streets would, from time to time, groan “Allah, Allah.” Armenians were reported to group together in open-air public spaces to pray and offer sacrifices to God. Greek women were seen “barely dressed, walking down the street holding crucifixes or images of the Virgin while beseeching the heavens and crying aloud.” (p. 917)  

Yet, if the streets of the Ottoman capital became scenes of devout expression linked to the irrational fear that earthquakes bring about, the Ottoman press served a different purpose. Materialist and positivist Ottoman Muslim intellectuals found in it a medium to impress a rational understanding of earthquakes among the people. Thanks to their writings, Bein argues, in the early twentieth century, hardly anyone among the educated in the Ottoman Empire would question the then-known scientific explanations of seismic activity.

In the aftermath of the Turkey-Syria earthquake, a Turkish friend of mine who came to the assistance of a friend of his who lost his wife in the rubble told me how he flirted with the idea of becoming more pious. Although a fully rational university professor, desolation made him look for metaphysical ways to deal with the tremor in his soul that that other tremor had caused. I really felt for him… I could see how looking for one you care for in the rubble in the earthquake-hit south could be such an overwhelming experience.

But if we are to follow the path of the Ottoman intellectuals discussed above, it is elsewhere that we should look for a solution. These Ottoman men paved the way for a scientific understanding of what causes an earthquake. Our duty lies more with ensuring that our built environment poses no risk to us, our families, our friends, and our colleagues. Speaking at a seminar with the pertinent title “Deprem ile Yaşamak”—which can be loosely translated as “How to Live with Earthquakes”—that was organized by the Faculty of Engineering and the Civil Engineering Club at Afyon Kocatepe University in late December 2022, Japanese engineer Yoshinori Moriwaki stressed the importance of prevention. His wisdom is summed up as follows: earthquakes don’t kill; unstable buildings do (“Deprem öldürmez çürük yapılar öldürür”) (https://haber.aku.edu.tr/2022/12/28/japon-mimar-ve-muhendis-moriwaki-deprem-ile-yasamayi-anlatti/). Let there be no need to remember this the next time a strong earthquake hits our region. Let there be no need to mourn innocent victims again. Please, build safe buildings!

[mariacallous]

While the EU, US and European countries rush to help Turkey following two major earthquakes registering 7.9 and 7.7 on the Richter scale, northern Syria, which was also badly hit, appears to have been left out in the cold.

More than 16,000 people in Turkey lost their lives in the quakes on Monday and nearly 63,000 were injured. The death toll in neighbouring Syria, stood at least at 3,900 on Thursday.

The European Union’s disaster agency, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, announced that 20 EU member states as well as the Balkan countries of Albania, Montenegro and Serbia had offered help to Turkey under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

“With 31 search and rescue teams and five medical teams via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the teams consist in total of over 1,500 rescuers and 100 search and rescue dogs,” European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations said, announcing an initial 3 million euros in emergency assistance.

Other Balkan countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Kosovo have also joined the help for Turkey, sending rescuers and aid.

But while Syrian authorities on Wednesday asked the EU to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and as the EU announced 3.5 million euros of assistance, it is not clear how and when help will arrive in Syria.

BIRN did not get an answer from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations by time of publication.

Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria as well as several Balkan NGOs have mentioned sending help to Syria but details of the help are not known.

Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu stated that Romania is ready to help Syria with equipment and medicine and is looking for logistical means to transport them to the country.

“We have approached the Syrian authorities to provide us with a list of equipment and concrete needs for humanitarian aid. I have forwarded this list to colleagues at the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, in cooperation with our institutional partners, we are trying to identify transport methods for these aids,” Aurescu told a government meeting on Wednesday.

The Polish government and NGOs have mentioned Turkey and Syria at the same time but details of potential help for Syria are not known. A Catholic charity in Poland, Help the Church in Need, is collecting funds specifically for Syria.

Greece, which has sent hundreds of rescuers and firefighters to Turkey, also promises support for Syria. A Greek rescue mission will soon travel to Syria after it activated its request to the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

Athens Macedonia News agency reports that the aid includes tents, medicines and other supplies for people who are homeless and need immediate support.

“This earthquake has not just affected Turkey, it has also affected Syria. There, the situation is even more complicated because essentially there is no official interlocutor. So we have to work through international organizations,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with CNN.

The first convoy of UN aid for opposition-held north-west Syria has reportedly crossed into the area from Turkey. War between the Syrian government and the opposition forces still continues in the area. Even before the earthquake struck, 4.1 million people in the area – most of them women and children – were relying on humanitarian assistance.

According to media reports, search and rescue missions in the area are very limited and authorities urgently need rescue teams, shelter and medicine.

The only way into the area is via the Bab al-Hawa crossing in Idlib with Turkey, but nearby motorways and airports have been devastated in Turkey making delivery of assistance to Syria even harder.

[paulthepoke]

This Week in Prophecy: Quake Update, Ataturk Dam, Russia Invites Iran into Syria & Turkey Relations, Iranian Drone Plant in Russia, Lebanon Devalues Currency, Italy Internet Outage

This Week in Prophecy: Quake Update, Ataturk Dam, Russia Invites Iran into Syria & Turkey Relations, Iranian Drone Plant in Russia, Lebanon Devalues Currency, Italy Internet Outage

On This Week in Prophecy… After 130 plus aftershocks and counting, two devastating earthquakes of 7.5 and 7.8 magnitude, the Ataturk Dam on the Euphrates River has multiple cracks. Experts have expressed concern and warning. According to Athens News out of Greece, “there are many cracks in the dam after strong earthquakes.” Turkish Professor of Seismology Dr. Nasi Göryur, “I appeal to…

[wordexpress]

1,200 Dead After Powerful Quake In Turkey, Syria, "State Of Catastrophe"

Turkey's AFAD emergencies service centre put the first quake's magnitude at 7.4, adding that it was followed by more than 40 aftershocks.

Istanbul: The most powerful earthquake in nearly a century struck Turkey and Syria early Monday, killing over 1,200 people in their sleep, levelling buildings and causing tremors felt as far away as Iraq.

The 7.8-magnitude quake wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a restless region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts.

The head of Syria's National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, told pro-government radio that this was "the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre".

At least 326 people died in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to the latest count.

At least 912 people also died in Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Shocked survivors in Turkey rushed out into the snow-covered streets in their pyjamas, watching rescuers dig through the debris of damaged homes with their hands.

"Seven members of my family are under the debris," Muhittin Orakci, a stunned survivor in Turkey's mostly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, told AFP.

"My sister and her three children are there. And also her husband, her father-in-law and her mother-in-law."

The rescue was being hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads in ice and snow. Officials said the quake made three major airports in the area inoperable, further complicating deliveries of vital aid.

- Election test for Erdogan -

The quake struck at 04:17 am (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometres (11 miles) near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people, the US Geological Survey said.

Turkey's AFAD emergencies service centre put the quake's magnitude at 7.7, updating an initial estimate of 7.4.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will be under intense pressure to oversee an effective response to the disaster heading to a tightly-contested May 14 election, conveyed his sympathies and urged national unity.

"We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage," the Turkish leader tweeted.

Washington, the European Union, and Russian all immediately sent condolences and offers of help.

Turkey also received a message of support from its historic rival Greece, whose relations with Ankara have suffered from a spate of border and cultural disputes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered to provide "the necessary assistance" to Turkey, whose combat drones are helping Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.

And Iran, which together with Russia is trying to help Ankara restore its relations with Damascus following its efforts to help oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, sent separate messages of condolence to both sides.

- 'People under rubble' -

Images on Turkish television showed rescuers digging through rubble across city centres and residential neighbourhoods of almost all the big cities running along the border with Syria.

Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake's epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, where entire city blocks lay in ruins under the gathering snow.

Kahramanmaras Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said it was too early to estimate the death count because so many buildings were destroyed.

"It is not possible to give the number of dead and injured at the moment because so many buildings have been destroyed," Coskun said. "The damage is serious."

A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments housed 92 people also collapsed.

In other cities, social media posts showed a 2,200-year-old hilltop castle built by Roman armies in Gaziantep lying in ruins, its walls partially turned to rubble.

"We hear voices here -- and over there, too," one rescuer was overheard as saying on NTV television in front of a flattened building in the city of Diyarbakir.

"There may be 200 people under the rubble."

- Power outages -

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.

AFP correspondents in northern Syria said terrified residents ran out of their homes after the ground shook.

Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo, Syria's pre-war commercial hub, often collapsed due to the dilapidated infrastructure, which has suffered from lack of war-time oversight.

Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Turkey's Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region's dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic flooding.

Officials cut off natural gas and power supplies across the region as a precaution, also closing shools for two weeks.

"The size of the aftershocks, which may continue for days although mostly decreasing in energy, brings a risk of collapse of structures already weakened by the earlier events," David Rothery, an earthquake expert at the Open University in Britain.

"This makes search and rescue efforts dangerous."

Turkey is in one of the world's most active earthquake zones.

The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999, when more than 17,000 people died --including about 1,000 in Istanbul.

Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, a megalopolis of 16 million people filled with rickety homes.

The last 7.8-magnitude tremor shook Turkey in 1939, when 33,000 died in the eastern Erzincan provinc