A strong earthquake measuring 6,1 on the Richter scale occurred at 6:19 on Thursday morning, centered in the sea area 56 km north-northeast of Neapolis Lassithi, off the coast of Crete, causing great disruption in many areas.
The island's fire services are on general alert, with vehicles already on patrol to control the situation.
According to information, as a result of the earthquake, small-scale landslides have been recorded on the provincial road network and on 25th August Street in Heraklion, a small fall of parts of a building occurred. The services of both the region of Crete and the municipalities are on heightened alert.
Schools open today
According to ERT, it was decided that schools will operate normally on the island today.
At the same time, the mayor of Sitia, Giorgos Zervakis, told SKAI: "It was a very strong seismic phenomenon, one of the strongest in the region. I had a conversation with the deputy mayor of Civil Protection, she at least checked the schools, there is nothing. I estimate that everything is fine."
Logically, the mayor added, the tests will be carried out as normal today. He added that there does not appear to be a problem in some old buildings either, although there was damage inside the houses.
Lekkas: The great depth of the earthquake is positive – It is not a harbinger of a larger earthquake
And the president of OASP, Efthimis Lekkas, appeared reassuring, telling SKAI that no intense aftershocks are expected:
"It was a major earthquake and the great depth acted as a deterrent to some major situations. It is also the distance, which is approximately 60 kilometers from Agios Nikolaos."
And Mr. Lekkas continued: "It was felt in about half of Greece, given that depth makes it easier for an earthquake to be felt because from the great depth the wave beam sees a larger surface, a larger circle, which is why it is felt more intensely."
At the same time, he stressed that it has nothing to do with the earthquakes that occur around Santorini.
"At 60 kilometers it is very difficult to locate the fault from which the earthquake originated because it has no expression on the surface. Usually earthquakes of the order of 10-15-20 kilometers have an expression on the surface, which in this case is the underwater space. So we cannot locate the fault," he also said.
Finally, he stressed that "there should be no concern, we are waiting for the development to see and evaluate the situation. Usually these earthquakes are not a precursor to another larger earthquake, they are the largest earthquake and usually we do not have a rich aftershock sequence, that is, the aftershock sequence includes small earthquakes in a small number. These earthquakes occur all at once, once and for all".
According to the revised solution of the National Observatory of Athens, the focal depth of the earthquake was 60,3 km.
V. Karastathis, director of the Athens Observatory, said that there is no reason for concern, although he recommended waiting a few hours to see how the phenomenon will develop. He stressed that there is no risk of a tsunami, nor is there any strong seismic activity expected.
At 06:34 in the morning, an aftershock measuring 3,1 on the Richter scale occurred with the same epicenter (53 km north-northeast of Neapolis, Lassithi) and a focal depth of 59,4 km.
Two minutes earlier at 6:32, an aftershock measuring 2,7 on the Richter scale occurred.
According to the Euro-Mediterranean, the earthquake had an intensity of 6,3 on the Richter scale and occurred approximately 80 km northeast of Greece.
The intensity and duration of the earthquake was great, with a Google notification reaching mobile phones recommending directions. Many residents came out of their homes.
According to initial information, the tremor was of long duration and disturbed the residents of Crete and other areas where it was felt.
It was strongly felt in areas of the South Aegean, even in areas of Attica.
Source: skai.gr
