A strong earthquake shook with a magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale northwestern Greece early on Sunday, March 8, causing damages to houses and churches and triggering landslides.
According to Geo-Dynamic Institute, the earthquake stroke with 5.3 R at 5:32 a.m. Its epicenter was located in Polydroso, 12 km east of Leptokarya, Region of Thesprotia, and the focal depth was estimated at approximately 13 km.
There no reports about injuries or casualties.
The tremor was felt in several areas of Epirus and Thessaly, as well as on the Ionian Islands.
It was followed by another one of 4.7R and up to 40 aftershocks until 12 o’ clock noon.
#Earthquake (#σεισμός) possibly felt 26 sec ago in #Greece. Felt it? Tell us via:
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⚠ Automatic crowdsourced detection, not seismically verified yet. More info soon! pic.twitter.com/SlA5rWTDlV— EMSC (@LastQuake) March 8, 2026
Technical teams are inspecting damaged house and of the ten houses that have been inspected so far, seven have suffered damage with visible cracks in the walls, while the other three are considered uninhabitable.
The mayor of Souli stressed that officials will visit all schools in the area to check for damage and ensure that children can attend classes on Monday. Later on Sunday, authorities decided that the school on Lepftokarya will remain closed on Monday, while Ioannina Municipality announced the closure of schools and kindergartens on March 10, for preventive reasons.
Meanwhile, residents are upset as aftershocks continue.
The mayor announced that those affected will be accommodated in a hotel.
Landslides were reported on the old national road between Igoumenitsa and Ioannina. Machinery from the Municipality of Souli repaired the road surface for the safety of drivers.
Damage has also been reported to farmhouses in villages in Dodoni.
The Holy Temple in Dovlas village, Zitsa, has also suffered cracks.
Greek seismologists said that they are monitoring the phenomenon to see if this was the main earthquake.
sources: epirusgate.gr, epiruspost.gr
