Strong earthquake on the Greek island of Crete: at least one dead and nine injured

A worker who worked in a collapsed church died on Monday in an earthquake that rocked the Greek island of Crete and also injured ninecivil protection announced.

The earthquake, of magnitude 5.8 according to the Geodynamic Observatory of Athens and 6 according to the United States Geological Survey USGS, it occurred at 06:17 GMT 23 km from Heraklion, the capital of Crete.

This particularly affected the people of Arkalohori, where the victim died and extensive damage was recorded, reported Spiros Georgiou, of the civil protection press service. Nine people were slightly injured, noted.

The epicenter of the earthquake was recorded 346 kilometers south of Athens, at a depth of 10 km, according to the Athens Observatory.

Images broadcast on public television ARE spectacle major damage, in particular the collapse of old houses in Arkaloxori and other nearby towns Heraklion, where neighbors took to the streets for fear of aftershocks, as well as on the tourist island of Santorini.

The strong shaking lasted for about 15 seconds. A few minutes later the first of ten aftershocks was felt, 3.7 degrees on the Richter scale, followed by another 4.5.

All educational centers and public buildings in the Heraklion region have been evacuated and are so far closed.

“It’s an unexpected earthquake, right now there are aftershocks of 4.5”said seismologist Efthymis Lekkas, chairman of the earthquake protection body, as quoted by the Greek news agency ANA.

The Minister of Civil Protection Christos Stylianides, accompanied by Lekkas and a team from the Natural Disaster Services (Emak) will travel to Crete in the coming hours, according to ARE.

Greece is located on geological faults and earthquakes are frequent.

The On March 3, an earthquake occurred in the center of the country, to Elassona, which left one dead and ten injured.

On October 30, 2020, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck the Aegean Sea between the Greek island of Samos and the Turkish city of Smyrna, killing two in Greece and 114 in Turkey.

(With information from AFP and EFE)