Vassilis Papazachos

Who is Vassilis Papazachos?

Vassilis Papazachos is a Greek seismologist and author of Earthquakes of Greece.

Born 30 September 1929 in the village of Smokovo in Karditsa regional unit, Vassilis Papazachos studied physics in the University of Athens, Greece. He received a M.Sc. in Geophysics from Saint Louis University and a doctorate in Seismology from the University of Athens. He first became involved in geophysics as an assistant of professor Angelos Galanopoulos and then moved to the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens. Later in his career he became Professor of Seismology in the Aristotle University, where he is still active as an emeritus professor.

Papazachos has always attracted publicity in his country Greece, which is highly seismogenic and has been tormented by many earthquakes both in historic and prehistoric times. He was an ardent opposer of Panayotis Varotsos and the VAN method for earthquake prediction, which he called "the greatest science joke of the century".

Vassilis Papazachos has also been involved in Greek politics for long time.