An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richer scale rattled the island of Crete early on Friday morning, April 24, 2026.
It occurred at 06:18 and its epicenter was in the sea area 25 kilometers south-southwest of the village of Goudouras, in the regional unit of Lassithi and its focal depth was 9.7 km.
Due to its small focal depth the earthquake was felt throughout Crete.
There are no reports of injuries or material damages, so far.
According to the Deputy Regional Governor of Lasithi, Yiannis Androulakis, the regional civil protection is on alert, and authorities are checking areas where there are old houses for any possible problems.
Intense seismic sequence
“The special feature of this earthquake is that there was a pre-seismic sequence,” the director of the Geodynamic Institute, Vasilis Karastathis, told media.
The seismic activity in the area had already begun on the 14th of the month, with successive tremors that peaked in the following days, a fact that had put scientists on alert, Karastathis revealed. “When there is a sequence that persists, we are always cautious that a larger earthquake may come. We were not sure about the magnitude, but there was an “alert” for the specific area,” he explained.
After the main earthquake, at least ten smaller tremors were recorded, with magnitudes from 2.9 to 3.8 on the Richter scale, confirming the evolution of the aftershock sequence. Karastathis estimated that it is not excluded that stronger aftershocks will follow.
“I believe that we may have a stronger aftershock of the order of 4.5 to 4.7 on the Richter scale. Such a thing is not unlikely,” he noted stressing that the development of the phenomenon is being closely monitored.
Two hours later, at 8:28 another tremor stroke with 4.2 R. According to the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, the epicenter of the earthquake was located in the sea area 21 km south of Goudouras in Lassithi.
