Strong quake hits Evia, felt widely in Attica
An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale shook the island of Evia and was felt widely in the region of Attica on Wednesday afternoon, according to a preliminary reading of the EuroMediterranean Institute.
No injuries or damages were immediately reported.
The tremor hit at 2.24 p.m. local time and its epicentre was located 15 kilometres northeast of the town of Chalkida, at a depth of four kilometres.
The Athens Institute of Geodynamics gave a reading of 4.9 and a depth of 13.2 kilometers.
“We still don’t know if it has an impact in terms of damages. But this earthquake is not connected to the tremors that occurred in the previous period in Evia,” Athens University geology and disaster management professor Efthymios Lekkas told kathimerini.gr, referring to a series of quakes that have rattled the island in the past few months.
Athanasios Ganas, the Director of Research at the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, said the tremor occurred in the area of Psachni. “It is an area with medium capacity faults that usually reach a magnitude of 5 on the Richter scale. So this earthquake fits the profile of this area. It was very superficial which is why it was so noticeable.”
Ganas also said this is in a different area from the fault that caused the other earthquakes last November. “They are actually 60 kilometers apart,” he explained to kathimerini.gr.
