Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

One Dead, 20 Injured after Earthquake Hits Greek Island


Mon 27 Sep 2021 | 06:37 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

One person died and at least 20 others suffered injuries in the Greek Island of Crete following a 5.8-scale earthquake, according to Sky News.

In the city of Heraklion, people have been sent to the streets, schools evacuated, houses and churches damaged by the earthquake.

The fourth-largest town of the country was rattling by repeated aftershocks, adding damage to the villages near the epicentre.

A man was killed during renovation works. A police officer said that the dome of a little church in Arkalochori, approximately 6.2 miles (30 km) south of Heraklion came into existence.

Officials of the hospital said 20 people receive first-aid and 10 were treated for injuries.

The fire service on the island was generally warned by sniffer dogs, thirty members of the disaster response department and specialist rescue equipment.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake hit at 6.17 AM, 5.8 miles (246 km) southeast of Athens, the Greek capital. Athens was the most important place for the quake.

Seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos said on Greece's state broadcaster ERT: "This is not an event that occurred without warning. We have seen activity in this region for several months."

"This was a strong earthquake, it was not under sea but under land and affecting populated areas."

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and the US Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.0, with an epicentre four miles (7km) north of the village of Thrapsano.

It is common for different institutes to give varying magnitudes early in the aftermath of an earthquake.