A strong earthquake has hit the coast of the Greek island of Crete. There are no immediate reports of
damage or casualties.
Seismologists reported the 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck at 4.29 p.m. local time (1329 GMT) today.
They said it was
centered about 138 kilometers (85 miles) east of the city of Heraklion
on Crete, or about 51 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Palaíkastron.
It struck about 60 kilometers (37 miles) deep, making it a shallow
earthquake, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological
Center.
Witnesses said the earthquake was strongly felt throughout southern
Greece and parts of Egypt, but there were no immediate reports of
damage or casualties.
@susannaaam tweeted: “earthquake off coast of crete felt all the way in cairo, egypt – our building shook for a few seconds.”
“We have no reports of damage or injuries so far,” said a police officer in Iraklio.
Turkish news agency Anatolia reported that the quake also caused panic in
the Turkish resorts of Bodrum, Fethiye and Marmaris. It was also felt in Malta and in Israel.
“It was a
strong earthquake in a region that is in the eastern section of area
known as the Aegean Arc,” said Manolis Skordilis, Associate Professor
of Seismology at the University of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.
“This
is a very seismically active area that has seen more powerful quakes in
the past. We are monitoring the post-earthquake activity, which so far
is not intense,” he said.
Greece is one of the most
earthquake-prone countries in the world, but the thousands of quakes
recorded each year rarely cause severe damage or fatalities.
