A very loud, hollow noise, caused serious unrest on Monday evening around ten o’clock,
for the residents of two villages near Heraklion.
The villagers of Pyrgos and Asites began evacuating their homes on hearing the noise, assuming that it was the result of an earthquake, as it was the kind of noise that is well known to occur just ahead of a quake.
The confusion continued for some time, as on searching the internet, no information on any seismic activity for the area, was found.
Witnesses described the noise which was heard by all in both villages, which are five kilometers apart, initially as if there had been a very heavy rock fall, but then others believed in the earthquake scenario, despite no movement being felt, only the very loud noise. Either way, no explanation could be found.
According to Prof Fasoulas, a geologist from the Natural History Museum Heraklion, that kind of extremely loud sound is not unusual in Crete. The area concerned, is at the eastern foot of “the roots” of Psiloritis. Underground caves exist in the area, the biggest being the “Sarhos”, which has an underground river that originates in the mountain and feeds a well in Almyros, Heraklion. “It could possibly have been due to a collapse in the caves or an area which was blocked and the water trying to find another route could have caused the noise”, the geologist suggested, to reassure the villagers.
A different opinion was expressed by Kaloust Paragamian, who is the Director of the Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. He said that he believes that that particular cave is very stable and doesn’t have water at the moment or sufficient to make that kind of explosive kind of underground noise.
Both however reassure that there is no concern about the stability of the ground, when there is this kind of movement in the underground networks as it normally occurs at a depth of between 100 and 300 metres. If it had happened closer to the surface, there would almost certainly be a chasm or hole visible.
Whatever the cause, the residents enjoy their coffee or raki in the village coffee shops as usual, but find nothing else to talk about except the noise and where it came from!