A 4.8 magnitude earthquake jolted the southern island of Crete early yesterday morning. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the tremor recorded in the Island’s Lassithi Prefecture.
The Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens put the epicentre of the 10:08 a.m. offshore earthquake at 49 kilometres South of the village of Palekastro in the Libyan Sea.
The seismic event had a relatively shallow depth of 8.1 kilometres. The location was in the same area as a 4.4 magnitude quake recorded a few days ago. This kind of activity is common offshore of Crete Island, and especially in this area. The two strong quakes coming back to back is of some concern, however.
According to the site Volcano Discovery, in the past 30 days, Lasithi has had 20 quakes of magnitudes up to 4.8. The most recent Crete was a 2.1 event offshore of the capital city of Heraklion in the Cretan Sea.