A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Lixourion, Greece today with light to moderate to strong ground shake effects.
The quake, which occurred at 13:55:43 UTC and 15:55:43 local time was cause for initial alarm when reports of cracked roads and some chaos on Cephalonia came in. Obviously people there were frightened by the sudden seismic disturbance. As of a few moments ago, police and fire authorities are searching for damage and injuries.
2 aftershocks have already occurred, one of magnitude 4.1 and another of magnitude 4.2. Nearby residents who are old enough may remember the violent quake of 1953 which killed hundreds.
Quakes like this one, with so shallow a depth, have the potential for delivering a lot of damage across a wider area as the energy disperses laterally rather than vertically.
Acording to the latest news, people from as far away as Albania, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Southern Italy are reporting having felt the tremors. There’s no concrete word yet as to real damage or injuries. We’ll keep you update as news comes in.