In Greece, where large-scale forest fires are raging, the fire destroyed more than 200 thousand hectares. Meanwhile, in Turkey, devastating floods replaced forest fires.
Greece
Greek police seized 118 people suspected of deliberately setting fire to the forest. Eighteen are already drained. In addition, the law enforcement officers reported the detention of six people who robbed abandoned houses.
The forest fires in Greece erupted at the end of July. Since then, more than 200 thousand hectares burned down, hundreds of houses have been destroyed. Thousands of firefighters, including hundreds from the Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, and Moldova, were continuing efforts to prevent flare-ups in the area, assisted by nine helicopters and eight aircraft, including two massive Ilyushin 11-76 water-dropping planes sent by Russia.
“We managed to save lives, but we lost forests and property,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, describing the wildfires as “the greatest ecological catastrophe of the last few decades.”
The government prioritized protecting lives in its fire response, issuing dozens of evacuation orders for villages in the path of the flames. In that respect, the policy appears to have worked.
Asked about the cause of the fires, and whether an organized campaign of arson was suspected, Mitsotakis said it was “certain that some of the fires in the last few days were the result of arson.” Several people have been arrested over the past few days on suspicion of attempting to start fires, including some who are accused of doing so deliberately.
However, he added it was unclear whether this was a result of an organized plan, and noted that the hot, dry conditions had aided the spread of wildfires.
Turkey
In Turkey, forest fires were replaced by devastating showers causing floods.
A huge search and rescue operation is underway in northern Turkey after flash floods along the Black Sea coast killed at least 27 people. Kastamonu province is the worst-hit area, accounting for 25 of the deaths. Two others died in Sinop on the coast. Some people are missing.
The floods caused some buildings to collapse, smashed several bridges, clogged some streets with wrecked cars and cut power supplies.
In the flooded area near the Black Sea, helicopters plucked some people from rooftops; others were rescued by boat.
More than 1,700 people have been evacuated, and as many as 330 villages are now without electricity, after the floods damaged power lines.
Philippines
A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck off the Philippines on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, as initial warnings about the risk of tsunamis were lifted and with no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
The quake was at a depth of 65.6 km (40.76 miles), the USGS said, with its epicenter in the Philippine Sea southeast of Davao City.
The Philippine national disaster agency had so far received no reports of casualties, injuries, or major damage, administrator Ricardo Jalad said.
"Looks like nothing scary happened, like a collapse of a building," Jalad told reporters.
Airports, seaports, and key infrastructure were for the most part unaffected by the quake, while all personnel was accounted for, the transport ministry said.
A seldom-used airport in southern Davao Oriental province had minor cracks on the runway, but there was no damage to the passenger terminal building, it said.
The Philippines' seismology agency initially warned of the risk of damage, aftershocks, and a tsunami, but it later said data showed there was no threat of a destructive tsunami.
The U.S. National Weather Service and Hawaii Emergency Management also said there was no risk of a tsunami for the U.S. West Coast or Hawaii.