A 5.3 magnitude earthquake shook Crete early this morning. The deep tremor centered 23 kilometers west of Heraklion was felt all over the island and in other southern Aegean islands.
Governor Stavros Arnaoutakis told reporters there were no injuries or visible damage from the latest Greek quake. The data from the USGS showed the tremor emanated from 80.4 km beneath Crete’s central prefecture in a sparsely populated area in between Fodele and Agia Pelagia resorts.
The tremor was felt here in Heraklion. according to locals, for about 5-6 seconds. Outside our offices here in Heraklion dogs could be heard barking in consort with the tremor, and the building shook noticeably but not violently.
Scientists now know that deep earthquakes like the one outside Heraklion radiate seismic energy differently than shallower quakes. While some aspects of these deep quakes are still being studied, geologists know that normal rocks are ductile, or pliable, at these great depths because of high temperature and thus aren’t able to rupture in an abrupt fashion to produce deep earthquakes. Deep quakes show a different effect as the two tectonic plates interact.
The Mediterranean region is seismically active due to the northward convergence of the African plate with respect to the Eurasian plate along a complex plate boundary. This convergence began approximately 50 million years ago and was associated with the closure of the ancient Tethys Sea.
Earlier this month, a magnitude 5.1 tremor was felt in the Greek capital of Athens, and another Crete tremor back in June shook Heraklion and the local area.