Recent earthquakes on or around Crete Island, in Greece, have people worldwide searching for past seismic events like the 1303 Crete Earthquake that devastated much of the island.
Since the 2021 Arkalochori quake devastated several villages in the central part of Heraklion Prefecture, citizens and seismologists alike have had peaked concerns about increased seismic activity on the island. The government has yet to help those victimized by the Magnitude 6.0 event that damaged over 5,000 village buildings. This quake came in the middle of a so-called earthquake swarm that began four months earlier. 80% of Arkalochori’s buildings were damaged, and the percentages were even higher for smaller hamlets in vulnerable areas.
Just to give the reader an idea of the situation in Crete, in the past month alone, there have been four earthquakes above Magnitude 4.0 and another 29 between Magnitude 3 and 4. Hundreds of other quakes have been recorded, but locals seldom feel these more minor earthquakes. Most readers will be alarmed to discover that Crete has experienced 3,170 earthquakes over the past year, with five being M5+.
People are interested in the 1303 Crete earthquake and ensuing Tsunami because this devastating event occurred on August 8th of that year. The M8+ event devastated Heraklion, flooded many parts of Crete, and shook buildings across the island. In Alexandria, Egypt, the 9-meter high Tsunami wave swell washed large ships as far as 2 miles inland. The floodwaters were so severe that the outer casing of the Great Pyramid was partly washed away, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria was severely damaged.
Seismic activity on or around Crete is not a rarity. The island sits in one of the most active earthquake zones in Western Eurasia. The so-called Hellenic Arc, a tectonic feature related to the subduction of the African plate beneath the Aegean Sea Plate, is the cause of a great many historic earthquakes on Crete and the surrounding islands. Since 1900, Crete has experienced 1 M7+ event, 26 M6 – M7 events, and 165 events ranging from M5 to M6.
Let’s hope the rest of August passes without an anniversary event of the 1303 Crete Earthquake.