Due to go to Kos on our family holiday next week, after the quake would you still go?
Youngest daughter is a worrier so we hid the news from her this morning, but she sent a tex from school asking what had happened?
Been in touch with travel agents and they say they will keep us informed, also messaged the hotel but understandably not heard from them as yet.

Next week, well it depends on what the mess is, how long to clear up that mess and the chance of after shocks.

If it was me on my own, Id be a bit more relaxed, but with a family Id probably try to change my destination.

Its a holiday, you don’t want risk / hassle.

Aftershocks will happen, it just depends on how strong they are.

Or how much you drink.

On a serious note, the emergency services, facilities etc. are stretched anyway in Greece, after an emergency they will be considerably worse off.

I have not seen how bad the damage is on the island as a whole and you need to check your specific hotel of course. Whilst emergency services may have been stretched in a week it could be all sorted. Local businesses need customers. I have been in an earthquake in Rhodes, they are quite common in Greece

Kos town looks worst hit due to the older buildings there, or hotel is 3k from the town so there must be some damage.
Apparently there is power out and no mains water in some areas but that should be sorted by next week.
Currently in contact with travel agents to see if they can find us an alternative.

You’d be surprised – the house in Italy got hit late last year – stuff on the southern wall was on the floor – everything else was fine – not a thing.
Yet 2km away houses were cracked and cars damaged.
5km further south villages were gone.
Geography matters here.
It’ll be down to the risk that the operator is happy to shoulder regardless of anything else – they won’t send people out there if they are going to have comeback.

Short answer
I wouldn’t go and would put pressure on my travel company to change the holiday. You’ve got to put the safety of the family first.
I’d give it until Monday to make your mind up, at least the extent of the damage will be known by then.

Long answer
It could have been a fore-shock, something bigger might be coming? If it was the main event, there might be aftershocks?
Ignoring that, the infrastructure will be somewhat damaged and it will take a few days for them to be able to assess the extent of the damage to the whole island. It’s a small island, if there is extensive damage they cannot magic up the materials and work force to fix everything in the next few days, or weeks.

Older buildings tend to get damaged in these events as they were not built to meet the latest building code standards. The fact that churches survive for hundreds of years is just that they are originally of more robust construction, there are rarely any old cheaper houses left as they perish over time.
More modern buildings should be built to code but it is unlikely given how most builders cut corners. If you have a hotel booked it is highly likely to be built to a higher seismic code standard.

Another thing to consider is that in the recent Italian earthquakes, high damage has occurred in areas where the geological maps indicated that the bedrock is very hard thus attenuates the energy. However the vernacular construction method used over many years is to build in areas of loose soils without deep foundations to the bedrock. This meant in the recent events like Amatrice, the damage was a lot more widespread than the models predicted. It means that buildings that should be safe aren’t as safe as they thought. This “theme” has been observed in all the recent Appennine quakes. This is common in Europe and could be an issue in Greece.

Having spouted all that, their economy is screwed and they do need the tourist €s. They’ve had such a bad run recently with austerity, refugee crisis and unemployment. This is exacerbated on the eastern islands. If you do go, they’d really appreciate it.

I’d give it until Monday to make your mind up, at least the extent of the damage will be known by then.