The Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization is a Legal Entity of Public Law and operates under the supervision of the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport. E.P.P.O. was founded in 1983 and from that time plans the national policy of earthquake protection and accord-ingly the confrontation of the seismic danger.

The Organization, according to its founding law 1349/83, is managed by the President and the Administration Board that practices the admin-istration and management as well as by the General Director that leads all the three Sectors of the organization. The Sectors of the Organiza-tion are: Seismic Design, Social Seismic Defense, Economic - Adminis-trative.
The aim of E.P.P.O. is supplemented by Permanent Scientific Committees staffed by reputable scientists and ex-perts.

Objective
E.P.P.O.'s objective is to process and plan the national policy for earthquake protection, as well as to coordinate the scientific resources for the implementation of this policy.

Knowledge of seismic danger
E.P.P.O. provides valid and prompt information to the Greek State Authorities concerning seismic danger, so that planning and confrontation are rendered possible. To achieve this scope E.P.P.O. assists in:

• Τhe development and modernization of the National Network of Seismographs and Accelerographs
• Τhe composition and activation of the Greek Seismic Hazard Map
• Τhe composition and publication of the Neotectonic Maps of Greece (sc. 1:100000)
• The development of new methodologies of mapping seismic hazard by institutions and /or scientific groups.

Strengthening of seismic capacity of structures
The earthquake resistant construction of buildings and infrastructure constitutes the major factor for the protection of life and property of the citizens in case of an earthquake. For that reason, E.P.P.O. assigns to relevant scientific committees the enactment of earthquake safety regulations, harmonized with the modern data in the sector of man-ufacturing of buildings, as well as the processing of special subjects relevant to seismic technology:

• Greek Seismic Code
• Greek Code of Reinforced Concrete
• Preseismic Control of Public Buildings and of Public Welfare institutions.
• Intervention Code of Reinforced Concrete Buildings
• Composition of regulations for the safety of monuments against earthquakes

Planning of preparedness measures
E.P.P.O. participates in the planning of the State readiness measures so as to ensure prompt mobilization, suffi-ciency of means and forces, coordination of involved parties, effectiveness and success of actions in case of emer-gency due to an earthquake. More specifically:

• Composes and updates the Operation Plan "Xenocratis - Earthquakes"
• Composes and publishes Technical Handbooks in relevant subjects.
• Informs the involved parties through regular meetings

Support of applied research
The support of applied research in Greece in sectors relevant to seismic design and protection is a major concern of E.P.P.O.'s policy. This support aims at the development of knowledge and its exploitation in order to reduce seismic danger. In that direction, E.P.P.O.:

• Announces projects of scientific studies in the sectors of seismic technology, seismotectonics and social seis-mic defense.
• Assigns studies for scientific projects with subjects relevant to the confrontation of the earthquake conse-quences in regions that have been affected.
• Participates in scientific projects that are financed entirely or partly by the European Union, etc.

Briefing of citizens
The active participation of the citizens is prerequisite for the reduction of the seismic danger and the minimization of the destructive consequences of an earthquake. Briefing of citizens is a major priority of E.P.P.O.

E.P.P.O. substantially contributes in the development of seismic consciousness and attitude of citizens.

For this scope, E.P.P.O.:

• organizes seminars for training of teachers
• organizes informative speeches for students
• organizes preparedness drills in schools, offices and governmental buildings
• composes and publishes informative material (booklets, posters, books, CD-ROM, website)
• organizes informative lectures for different target groups (public servants, etc)
• participates in educational projects for volunteers

Confrontation of earthquakes
The scientific personnel of E.P.P.O. (geologists, engineers) deal with the prompt confrontation of the earthquake's consequences, as well as with other incidents related to the seismic event.

More specifically E.P.P.O.:

• Is activated immediately after the seismic event and collaborates with other involved parties in order to con-front the emergency in the affected area
• Publishes and distributes leaflets with instructions for the safety of public in the area that was hit by the earth-quake
• Participates in Greek missions to other countries for the provision of assistance.

For more information visit the E.P.P.O website www.oasp.gr