Greek seismlologists appear reassuring about the powerful earthquake that jolted with 6.1 on the Richter scale the island of Karthathos in the southern Aegean Sea on Tuesday morning.
The earthquake occurred at 08:32 a.m. Its epicenter was located in the sea area 127 km south-east off Karpathos and at a focal depth of 58 km the Geodynamics Institute of National Observatory of Athens said.
No damages of injuries were reported still three hours after the powerful tremor hit.
The earthquake was particulartly felt on the islands of Karpathos and Kasos as well as in the broader area such as the south coast of Turkey, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. However, it was reportedly not particularly felt in the Dodecanese.
Speaking to state-tun news agency amna, the mayor of Kasos, Michalis Erotokritos, stressed that the tremor was felt on the island, but it was not particularly intense and did not cause concern to the island’s residents. No damage has been recorded to buildings and infrastructure.
Greek seismologists are not concerned about the impact of the strong tremor citing distance to the islands and focal depth.
Speaking to Skai TV, head of the Earthquake Planning and Protection Authority, Efthymios Lekkas, said that “because it is a deep earthquake, it is easier to feel it in a wider area and no tsunami or strong aftershocks are expected.
Also the director of the Geodynamic Institute, professor Akis Tselentis, told media that there was no reason of concern as the earthquake occurred in the sea.
In the same wave length, seismologist Gerasimos Chouliaras told state broadcaster ERT that the epicenter was quite far and due to its depth such an earthquake does not create problems.
“We will see how it evolves, the mangitude sounds alarming, but it is not worrying, it is beneficial as a huge amount of energy comes out,” Chouliaras said.
He estimated that the earthquake will not affect other fault lines because it is far from the faults that have been activated in the area.
The earthquake on Tuesday is the third with magnitude over 6 R in the region in less than a month. The earthquake stroke after a 6-R tremor on Sept 27 and a 6.3-R on Oct 12 in the broader area. The epicenter of the first one was Arkalochori on central Crete and resulted in the death of one person, several injured and dozens of houses, businesses and public buildings collapsed or damaged. The epicenter of the second one was in the sea south of Crete and the damages were minor.