A 6.4 Richter earthquake centered in the Aegean sea near Crete and the Peloponnese hit about a half hour ago (13:35 local time). I haven't heard anything about damages or injuries yet, hoping and praying that everyone is safe and sound in that part of the country.
UPDATE: Centers in Thessaloniki and Patras are reporting it was a 6.9 Richter quake, while Athens says 6.4. Greek consistency wins again! Some news agencies are going ahead and reporting it at the higher scale. The quake was felt throughout much of Greece, and was even felt in Cairo, Egypt, apparently. We didn't feel it in Thessaloniki, although our cats were going crazy apeshit about that time.
UPDATE #2: Full story can be found here. Let's hope it doesn't start a chain reaction in the area.
8 comments:
I was seriously freaked out by the BIG one which hit Athens in 1999. It was my first experience. My legs turned to jelly again today. It's such a strange feeling when you can no longer trust the earth under your feet.
My stomach's only just returned to planet earth. I just had something to eat now from from a dieting point of view, quakes are good.
I'm just really happy there were no fatalities.
It appears though some of the online reporting was misleading. My friend said that after it first happened, the headline on ERT.gr was "STRONG QUAKE HITS ATTIKI AND IS FELT IN THE WHOLE OF GREECE... DETAILS SOON". Which gave the impression that the epicenter was here.
You are so lucky you didn't feel it Mel. Next to the '99 quake, this was the strongest one I felt. Like Diva said, it's quite something to literally have the ground move under your feet. I always worry that an earthquake will happen while I'm at work and my son's at school. I was very happy to see that he has a very quick response time today and is not paralyzed by fear like I basically am.
Seawitch, I completly agree with what you said about being away from the kid when an earthquake hits. The stangest thing happened in the 1999 quake. I was on my way to a meeting and the schoolbus turned up to deliver my kid home.By mistake! (He usually stayed till later). So I had to drag him off to the appointment. About five minutes later the big one hit. I was so glad of the mistake.
Glad we are all OK if a bit wobbly.
I'm glad you all are ok. I heard Athens first on the news yesterday and got incredibly worried.
Amazing though, that an earthquake that strong can hit and not cause too much damage. Thank goodness, may all earthquakes be that deep!
Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers. Stay safe!
Cyn
Hey, Mel, glad to hear things are okay. I thought about you guys when I saw the story this morning.
Glad to hear that you are OK.
*hugs*
Post a Comment