Two powerful earthquakes jolted southern Greece on Thursday, sparking a rush for safety by panicked residents, but Europe’s seismic capital appeared to escape major damage.
The main quake measured at least 6,5 on the Richter scale with its epicentre just off the southern coast, according to Greek experts.
Their warnings of violent aftershocks came true exactly two hours after it struck when a second jolt of 6,4 on the open-ended Richter scale was reported with virtually the same epicentre, just off the coast of the Peloponnese peninsula.
The bigger quake was felt across the peninsula and up to the capital, Athens, as well as in Italy across the Adriatic Sea. But no casualties or serious damage were reported, said the Geo-Dynamic Institute of the Athens Observatory.
”It was a big quake. Everything moved a lot. I stayed at home but a lot of people rushed out on to the streets very worried,” said Takis Dimopoulos, a health worker in the south port of Kalamata, which was close to the epicentre.
Costas Athanassopoulos, deputy mayor of Kalamata, told Greek radio the shock was prolonged and caused widespread panic among the population of 60 000 in the city where 20 people died in a quake 22 years ago.
Many officials in the region were relieved to have escaped major damage despite the size of the jolt. Firefighters said some walls were cracked.
”Fortunately things don’t seem too serious,” said Georges Zabaziotis, mayor of Kyparissi, which is also close to the epicentre.
Schools were evacuated at Tripoli in the centre of the peninsula, Net television reported, urging people to stay out in the streets in case of a new aftershock.
The first quake struck at 12.09pm (10.09am GMT) with the epicentre just off the coast of the Methoni region, said the Geo-Dynamic Institute in Athens. The United States Geological Survey estimated it at 6,7 on its moment magnitude system.
A quake measuring 6,5 on the Richter scale also hit the peninsula on January 6. No casualties or major damage was reported then.
Greece has more quakes than any other European country — accounting for half the seismic shocks recorded on the continent — and experts at the Athens institute said the population should be wary of more aftershocks.
”We are expecting some strong follow-ups,” said institute director Georges Stavrakakis.
The epicentre of the latest quake was at a depth of about 30km. A depth of less than 70km is considered fairly shallow, Randy Baldwin of the US National Earthquake Information Centre said. — Sapa-AFP