An earthquake rattled with a magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter scale Greek capital Athens short before 6 o’ clock on Thursday. However its epicenter was 2 km north of Aliveri in Evia, some 50 km away.
According to preliminary information, the earthquake hit at 17:55:26 and had a focal depth of just 5 km. Later the depth was revised to 16.5 km.
The tremor was felt as particularly strong in Athens and the broader prefecture of Attica.
There are no immediate reports about injuries or material damage.
It is a weak tremor, it is still too early to say whether we should be concerned. The first estimate is that it was 4.2 R in Aliveri and we will have to wait for the correct magnitude and depth to be given to us,” the director of research at the Geodynamic Institute, Dr. Athanasios Ganas told media.
However, the President of National Earthquake Planning & Protection Organization Efthymios Lekkas, pointed out that caution is needed in the coming hours, mainly regarding the seismic sequence. No other tremors had been recorded until 18.20. Regarding the duration of the tremor, Lekkas explained that this is due to the distance of Attica from the epicenter of the earthquake (there is a “phase separation” due to the transmission of seismic waves), noting that in Aliveri area it was felt as a shorter phenomenon.
Some friends in the northern suburbs of Athens felt the tremor as “long”, while we in the south, felt is as “short”.
PS When the earthquake occurred, the older cat was walking towards me but in zero-time she turned around and ran under the couch. The poor kitty needed 10 minutes to calm down and come out. The younger cat was already … under the couch.
