Tag Archives: Crete

Earthquake Hits Crete, Greece

Important Takeaways:

  • Powerful 6.1-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Crete, Greece
  • According to the EMSC, the epicenter of the quake was located 89 kilometers (55 miles) from the city of Heraklion, at a depth of 80 kilometers (49 miles).
  • So far, there have been no reports of any damages or casualties caused by the earthquake.
  • The region lies in a seismologically active region as the Mediterranean Sea is a border between the African and Eurasian plates. As a result, Greece, Turkey, and other countries experience frequent tremors

Read the original article by clicking here.

Strong quake rattles Crete, minor damage but no casualties

ATHENS (Reuters) -A powerful earthquake rattled Crete on Tuesday, causing minor damage on the Greek island in the Mediterranean, and the tremor was felt as far away as Cyprus.

There were no immediate reports of casualties after the magnitude 6.3 tremor, which the Athens Geodynamic Institute said was centered at sea about 23 km (14 miles) east of the village of Zakros in eastern Crete.

The quake, which was shallow at a depth of 2 km (1.2 miles), was felt by residents of the island of Rhodes and by people living in high-rise buildings in Cyprus, 600 km (373 miles) east of Crete.

Pictures on social media suggested a chapel collapsed in the village of Xerokampos, in eastern Crete.

“We don’t have reports of injuries,” a fire brigade official told Reuters. “There might be some minor damages to old buildings.”

Many people in Crete’s main city Heraklion rushed outdoors, after the second tremor since a quake last month measured magnitude 5.8 shook Crete and killed one person.

A Greek seismologist said Tuesday’s quake came from a different fault.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru and Angeliki Koutantou, Lefteris Papadimas in Athens; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Edmund Blair)

Quake wrecks old buildings in Crete, killing one person

By Angeliki Koutantou and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS (Reuters) -An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 shook Greece’s largest island, Crete, on Monday morning, killing one person and injuring several, authorities said.

The tremor sent people fleeing out of homes, schools and public buildings across the island. Damage was reported to many old buildings close to the epicenter, in the east of the island.

The Greek infrastructure ministry said it had sent a group of civil engineers to assess the structural damage and assist in relief efforts.

A man died when the dome of a small chapel in the town of Arkalochori, some 30 km (20 miles) outside Crete’s main city Heraklion, caved in during renovation works, a police official said. The church was largely reduced to rubble.

Civil protection authorities said nine people were injured in the quake, which damaged mainly old, unοccupied buildings in the wider Arkalochori region.

Nevertheless many people in Heraklion rushed outdoors. Schoolchildren were told to leave their classrooms, gathering in schoolyards and town squares.

Supermarket shelves were toppled or emptied by the tremor. Schools in the Heraklion region were closed for the day.

A civil protection official said hotel rooms would be made available for people needing to stay outside their homes overnight, and 2,500 tents would also be put up.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute put the quake’s magnitude at 5.8 and said it was centered at a depth of 10 km, with an epicenter 23 km (14 miles) northwest of Arvi in southeastern Crete.

Earlier, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) had measured the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.5, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 6.0.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou, George Georgiopoulos; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Kevin Liffey)