Crete island was rocked this morning by a magnitude 5.7 earthquake offshore of the seaside village of Lentas, beneath the Asterousia mountain range of south Crete.
The Crete quake was felt strongly as far away as Chania in the far west of the island. Here in the capital of Heraklion, some 60 kilometers from the epicenter, the ground shake was very strong, but brief.
According to National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and the USGS, the earthquake struck at 7:08 am (GMT +2) local time at a depth of approximately 43 kilometers. There have been no reports of damage or injuries as of yet.
Crete has been innundated with strong aftershocks from the 6+ magnitude earthquake that struck Arkalochori earlier this year. This Crete quake seems to be along a different fault line, possibly movement of the Messara fault system, or the Hellenic Subduction Zone. The Arkalochori event was tied to the Kastelli Fault, which is a shallow crustal fault.
We will update this report if there is further news.