An strong earthquake struck with magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale and rattled the Halkidiki peninsula and Mt Athos in northern Greece on Sunday. According to the Geodynamic Institute of Athens, the earthquake occurred at 13.48, its epicenter was 21 km South-South-West of Mount Athos and the focal depth 10 km.
A few minutes later, two aftershocks measuring 2.8 and 2.6 R occurred.
There have been no immediate reports of injuries or material damages.
Due the low focal depth, the tremor was felt not only in Mt Athos, Sithonia and Kassandra and broader areas of Halkidiki but also in Thessaloniki, Serres, Kavala, Xanthi, while there are reports also from Larissa, Volos and Lesvos as well as from Athens and Attica, the Turkish west coast and Greece’s neighbors in the North.
Map of felt reports received so far following the #earthquake M5.3 in Aegean Sea 43 min ago pic.twitter.com/RYFerJzv5h
— EMSC (@LastQuake) January 16, 2022
Head of Greece’s Earthquake Planning and Protection Authority Efthimios Lekkas told media that the earthquake occurred at a fault line linked to the powerful fault line of Anatolia in Turkey.
Lekkas said that they were not concerned about an even bigger earthquake, adding, however, that seismologists are closely monitoring the phenomenon.
Felt #earthquake (#σεισμός) M4.4 strikes 69 km W of #Mýrina (#Greece) 11 min ago. Please report to: https://t.co/Pa5ZDqkrcl pic.twitter.com/OG756v9CNu
— EMSC (@LastQuake) January 16, 2022
The seismic activity continues with several aftershocks reaching also 4.4R and 3.5R.
