Magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes Crete, felt in Israel

No immediate reports of injuries or damage from Greek island, which geological director says was due to tremor happening in the ocean and not close to the land; tremors reported by residents of Israel's central coast
Reuters|
An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 struck the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, sending tremors that were felt in some parts of Israel, Greece's Geodynamic Institute said.
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  • There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
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    אחת מנקודות התצפית בדרך מהרקליון לחאניה
    אחת מנקודות התצפית בדרך מהרקליון לחאניה
    The island of Crete
    (Photo: Ofir Shamir)
    The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) earlier registered the tremor at 6.1.
    Israeli authorities reported the quake was felt in some of the country's central coastal cities.
    A Jaffa resident reported the ground shaking in three short waves. "The whole house shook," he said.
    Akis Tselentis, director of the Geodynamic Institute who was in Crete, said authorities gave a revised reading of 5.7 from 5.6 earlier. "I felt it," he told Greece's Skai TV.
    "Thankfully it was in the sea. The area is already burdened (with earlier tremors) and if it were inland there could have been damage," he said.
    The quake was at a depth of 80 km (49.7 miles), the EMSC said. Greece's Geodynamic Institute said the depth was 42.7 km.
    On October 12, a powerful magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocked Crete, two weeks after another tremor on the island killed a man and damaged hundreds of buildings.
    The last major earthquake to hit the region occurred in 1927 - a 6.2-magnitude tremor that killed 500 people and injured another 700.
    Experts on the issue say that Israel experiences a devastating earthquake every 100 years and have warned that such a disastrous occurrence is just a matter of time.
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