Greek holiday island of Crete is hit by 5.3-magnitude earthquake
- The earthquake was given a preliminary magnitude 5.2 and left people shaking
- It happened around 7.40am (4.40 GMT) this morning, waking many tourists
- Strong quakes are common in Greece which lies in one of the most seismically active parts of the world – there was a tremor in Athens two weeks ago
An earthquake has struck the popular tourist Island of Crete, Greek authorities have said.
The shock was given a preliminary magnitude 5.2 and left people shaking.
No injuries or damage has been reported.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute says the tremor happened at 7.40am local time, (5.40am BST) on Wednesday in Heraklion about 14 miles west of the Island’s capital Iraklion.
An earthquake has struck the popular tourist Island of Crete, Greek authorities have said. The shock was given a preliminary magnitude 5.2 and left people shaking
There was a recorded depth of 50 miles.
The fire service and officials on Crete said they received no reports of damage or injuries.
Strong quakes are common in Greece which lies in one of the most seismically active parts of the world.
Severe damage or injuries are rare.
Stephen Davies, 66, who retired to the Island from Hampshire four years ago told the Mirror he heard a ‘loud bang’ followed by ‘the whole house shaking’.
‘The house was shaking and the cupboards were rattling. None of the cats nor neither of the dogs paid any attention to it. [There was] no damage to our property which is an ancient part of a Turkish villa and the walls are three feet thick.
British tourist Kate Smith, 44, said: ‘I was upstairs, sitting on the bed, and the bed shook. The wardrobe shook and I knew straightaway it was an earthquake. I shouted downstairs ‘did anyone else feel that?’ and we all did.’
Tourists who were holidaying on the Island took to Twitter to share their shock at being woken up by the shakes.
Crete is the second most visited Greek Island, after Santorini, and sees about four million tourists a year. Many come in July and August.
One holidaymaker from Bristol wrote: ‘Was woken up pretty sharply by an earthquake in Crete this morning. Whole room shaking’.
Another said: ‘Getting woken up by an earthquake in Crete. Could of started the day a bit better than that tbh [sic]’
‘Earthquake in Crete. We’re 40 miles from epicentre. Shook villa for 4-5 seconds. Shut the cockerel up for a bit!’ another said.
One unlucky tourist said she experienced her fourth earthquake of the month, after also feeling tremors in LA and Athens.
The island’s regional governor Stavros Arnaoutakis said there were no known injuries.
‘I have spoken with the mayor of Anogeia, where the epicentre of the earthquake was recorded and he told me there is no damage.
‘The tremor was was felt here in Heraklion. It was short, 5-6 seconds’ he told local media.
Earlier this month, a strong earthquake shook the Greek capital of Athens.
The quake hit at 2.13pm local time near the town of Magoúla, 14 miles north of Athens with a magnitude of 5.1, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Institute.
2019 has been a particularly volatile year for earthquake activity, promoting warnings that a large quake could be coming soon
Those caught up in the quake described it as powerful and prolonged, with some running out into the streets in order to avoid buildings collapsing on them.
Telecommunication networks were knocked out by the tremor, while power was also cut to some parts of the Greek capital.
Authorities inspected areas close to the epicenter by helicopter and police patrols but no deaths or serious injuries were reported.