Crete and surrounding areas were shaken by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that struck in a marine area near Lasithi prefecture. The aftershock activity following the first hour after the tremor has been intense, with at least 7 smaller quakes recorded, the largest being 3.8 magnitude, which occurred again in a marine area, east of the 5.7 magnitude epicenter and 10 minutes after the main shock. This was followed by aftershocks measuring 3.5 and 3.6 on the Richter scale.
Read: 5.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Crete: Lasithi prefecture shaken
Aftershock sequence off Crete in the first hour following the 5.7 magnitude earthquake
Deputy regional governor of Lasithi: The earthquake was prolonged and felt across southwestern Crete
Deputy Regional Governor of Lasithi Giannis Androulakis, shortly after the strong seismic tremor that woke residents, told ERTnews: “The earthquake was felt throughout Eastern Crete. We have already contacted the Municipality of Ierapetra since the focal point was south of Ierapetra Municipality.
We are waiting to see if there are any issues, problems and concerns. We have already put the civil protection of the Regional Unit on standby, so we are awaiting developments. It lasted a while, we are generally accustomed to earthquakes and trust all the existing building codes. However, there are also areas with older houses, where in cooperation with the municipalities we will see if there is any problem. It’s a bit below Ierapetra and is approximately a short distance from what we saw as well.
It didn’t have a great focal depth which is why it was felt throughout eastern Crete. The reports I have are from Siteia all the way to Heraklion.”
Lekkas on earthquake south of Crete: Also felt in Kasos, Karpathos
Earlier today, OASP president Efthymios Lekkas spoke about the earthquake on ERTnews and the “Connections” program, based on the first available data about the tremor.
As he stated: “We have an earthquake south of Lasithi. The initial magnitude is 5.5 in the marine area at 5 kilometers depth. We haven’t seen the exact data of the earthquake yet because it’s the automatic system, I believe it’s an earthquake that would have been perceived over a wide range in Crete and in Kasos and Karpathos, but we don’t have more details at this moment. We are essentially waiting for the recordings to be able to assess the whole situation.
It’s near Chersonissos, it must have been particularly felt throughout Lasithi and the rest of Crete. Right now the exact magnitude and precise location are being calculated, at 5 kilometers it’s a shallow earthquake, but we’ll know the specific details and exact data in a little while.”
The 5.7 magnitude earthquake in Crete
According to the Geodynamic Institute, the 5.7 magnitude tremor occurred at 06:18 in the morning, had a focal depth of 9.7 kilometers and its epicenter was 23 kilometers Southwest of Goudouras, Lasithi. It lasted 20 seconds.
